EU, Pakistan should explore chances of legal migration of workforce: commissioner

ISLAMABAD: European Union Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said on Monday that the EU and Pakistan have a good base to cooperate not only on controlling illegal migration but to explore the possibilities for legalised migration of skilled workforce.

In her two-day visit to the country, both Pakistan and the EU agreed to launch a comprehensive dialogue on migration and mobility next year. During her visit, she discussed with the government, law enforcement bodies and the UN agencies a broad spectrum of bilateral questions on migration and security.

“Pakistan and the EU wish to strengthen their cooperation in all migration-related areas, including from a regional point of view,” said a statement issued by the EU Delegation to Pakistan.

In a first, it added that the EU and Pakistan agreed to launch a comprehensive dialogue on migration and mobility. This will encompass all relevant aspects of migration management, including legal pathways for migration to Europe and addressing irregular migration and migrant smuggling and, continued enhanced cooperation on return, readmission and reintegration, through the full and effective implementation of the Pakistan-EU readmission agreement.

“Commissioner Johansson and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar agreed to intensify preparations for the launch of a Talent Partnership with Pakistan to facilitate working and living in interested EU Member States for suitably qualified Pakistani nationals,” it added.

With Minister Rabbani Khar, it added Commissioner Johansson agreed to intensify the concrete bilateral cooperation in security, including counterterrorism and fighting criminal networks, including the fight against the smuggling of migrants.

Speaking at a joint news conference along with Hina Rabbani, the visiting EU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs, Johansson, said that Pakistan is a “very important and strategic partner” of the EU and it was committed to further building on the 60 years of relations in diverse areas including trade.

She stated that the EU intends to launch a comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan on issues pertaining to migration and mobility.

“The EU and Pakistan have a good base and energy to cooperate not only on controlling illegal migration but to explore the possibilities for legalised migration of skilled workforce,” Johansson said, adding that the EU’s aging society needs a fresh workforce equipped with contemporary skills.

She thanked Pakistan for their generosity in hosting three million Afghans, 1.3 million of whom are refugees. She stated that it is a continental solidarity that the European Union has recently experienced, with the hosting of 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees in the course of this year. She said the EU stood ready in extending its cooperation to deal with the Afghan refugees.

The EU Commissioner held discussions with federal ministers and secretaries of Interior; Overseas and Human Resource Development; and Education and Professional Training, about possibilities for legal and safe pathways of migration to Europe.

She also visited Peshawar, where she exchanged views with the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). She was briefed about the fight against terrorism and organised crime and on border management activities.

She lauded Pakistan’s role in controlling cross-border terrorism, smuggling, and trafficking and expressed the EU’s intent for “deeper cooperation” in the area of border management, adding that Pakistan is performing well in checking cross-border crimes.

She said that her meetings with the officials of the FC and the FIA during her visit to Peshawar focused on the fight against terrorism and organised crimes, and also on the border management activities along with the Pak-Afghan border.

Responding to a question about media freedom in Pakistan and the murder of journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya, she said freedom of expression remained of utmost importance and fundamental to democracy.

In her remarks, Hina Rabbani Khar said the EU can benefit from a vast pool of skilled workforce of Pakistan by allowing legal migration. She said that Pakistan is cognisant of the EU's concerns about illegal migration, adding that the country has taken legislative and administrative measures to check and minimise illegal migration, which has now been completely stopped.

She said that Pakistan and the EU had signed strategic engagements plans in 2019 under which they agreed to work toward a broader and mutually beneficial and comprehensive dialogue on migration and mobility with clear targets and joint commitments. She said Pakistan welcomes European Union's commitment to launch a dialogue on migration and mobility next year.

Khar said that Pakistan minimised the possibility of illegal migration but at the same time it opened doors for legal migration of its talented pool of workforce.

“Pakistan is a clear country that has an exportable surplus of human resource, which can be beneficial for the EU countries and rest of the world,” she added.

Keeping in view the shortage of manpower in the EU, she said 65 percent of Pakistan’s population is below the age of 35, adding that Pakistan has also established a mechanism to recruit and export manpower in many fields including IT.

“Pakistan is well placed today to provide the EU required manpower,” she added.

She underscored that trade and investment ties are a key component of Pakistan's multifaceted relationship with the EU, adding that the GSP Plus has been a mutually beneficial undertaking that played an important role in the growth of Pakistan's bilateral trade with the EU countries. She expressed the hope that the new GSP Plus regulation would continue to focus on its central tenets of supporting sustainable development.

Highlighting Pakistan’s hospitality, Khar said we are currently hosting around three million Afghan refugees on our soil.

To a question about any possibility of extending the deadline for the stay of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Khar said that the matter needs a long-term policy.

She said that Pakistan does not seek acknowledgment from the international community for its generosity in hosting over four million Afghan refugees, adding that the act is being done out of Pakistan’s sheer global responsibility as a responsible state.

She stressed the need for the world to “parachute the Afghans towards safety” and added that Pakistan was pursuing its objective of creating an environment of peace for the Afghan people.

To another query about evidence collection in Arshad Sharif’s murder case, she said following the unfortunate incident, the Prime Minister sent an investigation team immediately to Kenya.

However, she said that it is not useful to cast aspersions at this stage, adding: “we will get to the bottom and the journalist community deserves the closure of the case.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022