Lahore School of Economics

Out Migration Back to Peak Levels
June 10, 2024

Over 850,000 workers seek jobs abroad in 2023

The Pakistan Migration Report 2024, third in the series published biennially by the Centre on Migration, Remittances and Diaspora (CIMRAD), Lahore School of Economics, was launched on June 11, 2024. Ms. Mio Sato, Chief of Mission, IOM Pakistan was the Chief Guest at the launch event. The ceremony was held at Lahore School of Economics, Burki campus. Dr Shahid Amjad chaudhry, Rector Lahore School of Economics opened the proceedings of the ceremony.

The 2024 report reveals that the international out migration numbers have returned to pre-Covid peak levels. The outward migration plummeted from 625,000 in 2019 to less than 300,000 during 2021, but surged to 862,000 by 2023 as the pandemic's effects waned. A significant portion of workers continue to migrate to Gulf countries, with Saudi Arabia retaining its position as the top destination, attracting half of all migrants. However, the report notes that around half of Pakistani labor migrants are still categorized as low-skilled or unskilled, despite a shrinking demand for such workers in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the UAE experienced, in the post Covid period, a notable increase in migrant inflows, rising to 27%. The report also points out low level of women representation in the international labour force migration as just 0.94% of the total.

Contrary to the media hype of the unprecedented “brain drain”, the report cautions that the exodus of the highly skilled and the highly qualified professionals is a misinterpretation of the official data. The percentage of highly qualified/skilled out-migrants has remained less than 10 % of all registered migrants for most of Pakistan’s migration history since 1971.

Labels: CIMRAD, GIDS, Pakistan Economy, Pakistan Migration Report, Publications

posted by S A J Shirazi @ 6/10/2024 05:28:00 PM,

Social Remittances and Social Change: Links between Home and Host Countries
February 22, 2023

The Centre on Migration, Remittances and Diaspora (CIMRAD), Lahore School of Economics organized first of its kind international conference on “Social Remittances and Social Change: Links between Home and Host Countries” on February 21 and 22, 2023 at the Lahore School’s Burki Campus. Dr. Peggy Levitt, renowned sociologist and pioneer of the term “social remittances” was the keynote speaker at the event. Dr. Ishrat Hussain, former Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity shared his comments as the Chief Guest at the opening of the conference. Dr. Shahid Amjad Chahudhry, Rector, Lahore School of Economics gave the welcome address.

Going beyond financial remittances, the theme of social remittances taps into the ideas, values, beliefs, behaviors and culture of the host country that migrants get exposed to and over time may adopt and transmit back to their home country. Cultural diffusion is a two-way process; migrants bring along with them their cultural norms, social, philosophical, political and religious ideas and beliefs as well to the host country, which can potentially transform the community life there. Limited research has been conducted on the subject at national and global level, but progress is being made. With a total stock of 8.4 million overseas Pakistanis, the topic has far ranging implications for Pakistan’s society in social and spill over economic terms. In this regard, the conference provided a platform to encourage research on the subject in the country and internationally.

The conference proceedings offered an insight into and stimulated thoughts about how the global society is transforming, as nation-state geographical borders continue to blur overtime. It brought into discussion implications for home country politics, improvements in demographic variables and women empowerment. It also raised a key question for future considerations of social remittances in terms of climate induced migration. As a future line of research, it was proposed during brainstorming session to conduct country comparative case studies in different migration contexts to better understand the complex issue of social remittances.

Dr. Peggy Levitt, Chair of Sociology Department, Wellesley College, US, in her keynote address talked about cultural globalization and the role of technological advancements. Where once the exchange of ideas was limited to occasional home visits by migrants, family members are now able to be a part of each other’s lives virtually on daily basis. Having studied migrant communities in Boston from Brazil, Ireland, Pakistan, and India, she reflected that for migrants over time, there is a growing disjuncture between how they perceived their home country and how it may have actually evolved. She termed it the “ossification effect”, where the home country is “frozen in time” in the migrants’ minds, while actually it has changed rapidly. She elaborated that age plays a role in the extent of compatibility and adaptability as migrants move. People who are able to spend more time in their home country and build strong social networks prior to migrating, are better able to implement their new ideas and practices in the home country. In comparison, those who go at an early age, not only found it more challenging to put through their ideas, but in some cases even struggled to understand the social rules necessary to get their ideas across.

Dr. Ishrat Hussain in his comments emphasised that as a developing country, Pakistan based research in any field must link with the implications for poverty alleviation and human development. Weighing in on the recently re-emerged brain drain debate from Pakistan, he asserted it was an opportunity for Pakistani migrants to acquire new skills from host markets. Besides technical skills, social remittances in form of efficiency enhancing practices, principles and values can also contribute to increasing productivity of our local market and can even be exported to other migration destinations. Given the structure of Pakistani society however, he highlighted there seems to be a reverse pattern, where instead of bringing in change, there has been a trend in re-adoption of local ineffective practices, signalling negative social remittances.

The two-day event was organised into two sessions per days, where international participants presented their papers, following by an in-depth discussion and feedback from renowned migration researchers and experts.

Dr. Philippe Fargues, Founding Director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute, Italy, argued that international migration and reduction in fertility are inseparable parts of social change and human development. Where country-level socio economic indicators fail to establish this relationship, the non-tangible remittances in forms of ideas with family and friends in home country can explain the phenomenon better. Pakistan’s population is growing at a worrisome rate of 2.4% annually and it has a current total fertility rate of 3.6, putting a strain on our limited economic resources. Implications of social remittances to bring down fertility rate are worth exploring from policy point of view.

Dr. Anne White, Professor at University College London School, UK, discussed how social remittances impact the migration process itself. When migrants interact with other migrants in the host country, the exchange ideas have the potential to transform the ways migration takes places, such as an inclination towards personal networking instead of through employment agencies. This could make the process even less formal in developing countries.

Presentations by Dr. Bilesha Weeraratne, Head of Migration and Urbanization Policy Research at the Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka and Mr. Froilan Malit, Jr., Ph.D Politics candidate at the University of Glasgow, UK, brought attention to the role of social media and technology in the transfer of social remittances to home countries. Dr. Malit discussed the case of Filipino diaspora in the Gulf countries on use of digital technology to impact the domestic electoral outcomes, and how their political preferences are impacted by the governance system in host countries. The study had significant relevance for Pakistan given our diaspora’s active participation in Pakistan’s recent political landscape; campaigning for change and a welfare based democratic independent system, similar to the Western countries, where around 3 million mostly high skilled Pakistan’s reside.

Using data from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18, Dr Nasra Shah, Coordinator CIMRAD and Ms. Samar Quddus, Research Fellow, Lahore School of Economics, in their study found that women in the migrant household were twice more likely to make independent decisions on important household matters compared to non-migrant household. In this regard, family structure is a key variable such that woman autonomy is found six to seven times higher in households headed by female. The finds have development implications for Pakistan if these decisions translated into improved health and educational outcomes, even pulling families out of poverty.

Dr. Philip Martin, Professor Emeritus at the University of California-Davis, US and Mr. Manolo Abella, former Director, ILO discussed types of social remittances that arise from low skilled labour migration to higher wage countries. The analysis suggested that aspiration of improving their economic position at home leads migrants to increasing their investment in housing and land in their home countries, as well as the sense of improved well-being of families makes them investment in health and education. Search for better facilities also results in rural to urban migration. In Pakistan, where 53% of migrants in the last decade (and even before) have been low skilled, these proposed outcomes have consequences for management of our economy, provision of better basic health and education facilities and the need for planning to accommodate influx of internal migrants to urban cities.

Dr. Rashid Amjad, Director Graduate Institute of Development Studies and CIMRAD, in his concluding remarks stated that economic analysis dominates the research field and there emphasis on quantification and measurement, however this framework is limited in its ability to incorporate the nuances of social life, that are more challenging to quantify. The academic community from different areas of research must come together to explore methodological innovations in research on social remittances.

Also in Business Observer, G News, Pakistan Today Pakistan Observer, Pakistan PiPa News, Daily Times

Labels: CIMRAD, GIDS, Pakistan Economy, Pakistan Migration Report, Publications

posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/22/2023 05:17:00 PM,

Pakistan Migration Report 2022
July 01, 2022

Centre on International Migration, Remittances and Diaspora

Dr Murtaza Syed, Acting Governor, State Bank of Pakistan spoke as the Chief Guest at the launch of the Pakistan Migration Report 2022, on June 30, 2022 at the Lahore School of Economics, Burki Campus. The report is second in the series published biennially by the Centre on Migration, Remittances and Diaspora (CIMRAD), Lahore School of Economics. Dr Rashid Amjad, Director Graduate Institute of Development Studies (GIDS) and CIMRAD opened the proceedings of the launch.

According to the report, it is unlikely that the surge in remittances witnessed during 2020 and 2021 will sustain. While the shift in inflows from informal to formal channels and the new initiatives during Covid-19 period were able to increase the average monthly inflows to around USD 2,500 million, the impact of these factors has been diminishing and inflows are slowing down. Deteriorating economic conditions and political environment discourages investment-oriented inflows, the report warns that this aspect demands consideration given the over reliance on these inflows.

Labels: CIMRAD, GIDS, Pakistan Economy, Pakistan Migration Report, Publications

posted by S A J Shirazi @ 7/01/2022 09:02:00 AM,

Role of migrants in building Pakistan’s knowledge economy
February 28, 2020

“Pakistan Migration Report 2020” was launched on 19 February 2020 at the Lahore School of Economics, Burki Campus. The report is published by the Centre on Migration, Remittances and Diaspora (CIMRAD), housed at the Graduate Institute of Development Studies (GIDS), Lahore School of Economics. Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity spoke as the Chief Guest at the launching ceremony.

Dr Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, Rector, Lahore School of Economics, opened the proceedings of the launch.

Dr. Ishrat Hussain, praised the remarkable efforts of CIMRAD in writing the report and their continued efforts on working on important issues such as international migration. He commended the report for its in-depth evidence-based research approach, in bringing together the scattered and partial information on overseas migration and remittances in a comprehensive form and in raising important questions for academics, policy-makers and the government. He emphasized on the potential of overseas migrants in improving the socio-economic indicators of Pakistan through their contribution in the knowledge economy. This potential needs to be realized through technological transfers and building human capital.

Labels: CIMRAD, GIDS, Pakistan Economy, Pakistan Migration Report, Publications

posted by S A J Shirazi @ 2/28/2020 01:59:00 PM,