ISLAMABAD: Estimates suggest that 9.1 million people of Pakistani origin live abroad which makes the country, the sixth largest diaspora in the world. This number accounts for almost 5pc of the country’s population.

Taking this into consideration, Pakistan welcomes the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) agreement among United Nations-member states as it will facilitate safe immigration.

This was highlighted during a webinar titled ‘Advancing Implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, Asia and the Pacific’.

Parliamentary consultation would bring safety, order and economic progress to everyone’s benefit, Senator Dilawar Khan said while speaking to participants of the meeting.

Country has sixth largest diaspora in the world

He said the aim of the event was to provide information about rules of migration and ways through which parliamentarians could support implementation of the global agreement in their countries and collaborate across migration corridors.

Additional Secretary, Senate Secretariat, Retired Maj Syed Husnain Haider also participated in the meeting.

Pakistan has hosted Afghan refugees for more than 40 years and has continued to host 1.4 million registered refugees, Senator Dilawar Khan said, adding that the country extended smart identity cards to Afghan refugees that would give them faster and safer access to health and educational facilities along with banking services.

It must be noted that Pakistan welcomed the first ever agreement among the United Nations-member states on the all-encompassing Global Compact to better manage international migration.

“The implementation of the compact will bring safety, order and economic progress to everyone’s benefit,” Mr Khan added.

He said Pakistan promoted the Global Compact for Migration as under the programme, the human rights of migrants would remain protected.

Human rights advocate Klaus Dik Nielsen, Pia Oberoi, from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Nenette Motus, who is the coordinator of Regional UN Network on Migration for Asia and the Pacific, was present at the meeting.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2022