The issue of brain drain and skilled migration from Pakistan has become increasingly prominent, with over 28,000 Pakistanis applying for asylum in the EU+ region between October 2023 and October 2024.

Asylum applications and country preferences

According to the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), asylum applications peaked in October 2023 at approximately 3,400 before gradually declining to 1,900 by October 2024. Italy emerged as the top destination for Pakistani asylum seekers, followed by France, Greece, and Germany.

During this period, EU+ countries processed around 20,000 asylum applications from Pakistani nationals, but only 12% were granted refugee status or subsidiary protection. At the end of October 2024, nearly 34,000 applications were still pending at the first instance.

Illegal migration and tragic incidents

In addition to formal asylum applications, many Pakistanis resort to illegal channels to enter Europe. This trend was tragically highlighted by the recent Greek boat disaster, where three vessels carrying migrants, including Pakistanis, capsized, resulting in at least 40 Pakistani fatalities. Pakistan’s Embassy in Greece confirmed that 35 bodies remain missing, with little hope of recovery, and five have been retrieved.

This incident echoes last year's shipwreck near Italy, which claimed the lives of 59 migrants, including 28 Pakistanis.

Escalating emigration

Despite the risks, the pursuit of better opportunities abroad continues. In the first 11 months of 2024 alone, 13,500 Pakistanis were caught attempting to enter Iran illegally via Balochistan's Chaghi district, with a total of 90,000 apprehended over the past five years.

The Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment reports that nearly 10 million Pakistanis have emigrated over the past 17 years, with an increase in the emigration of highly skilled individuals from 2% to 5% since 2022.

Recent trends indicate that most emigrants belong to blue-collar professions, with 37% being skilled workers (down from 44% during the Imran Khan-led government) and 46% unskilled laborers (up from 41% during the same period). The highest emigration rate occurred during the PML-N government (2013-2018), with 3.53 million people leaving the country. However, under the PTI government, the figure dropped by 60% to around 300,000.

Economic and socio-political factors

The EUAA’s "Country of Origin Information Report" for Pakistan cites socio-economic challenges such as unemployment, poverty, political instability, and external debt—amounting to 34.3% of Pakistan’s GDP—as major drivers of emigration.

A report by the World Food Programme (WFP) in July 2024 highlighted issues such as economic fragility, political polarisation, recurrent natural disasters, and high inflation as factors exacerbating poverty levels. The World Bank Group estimates that as of April 2024, 40% of Pakistan’s population lives below the poverty line.

These socio-economic pressures continue to push skilled and unskilled Pakistanis to seek opportunities abroad, often risking their lives in the process.