Labour migration from Pakistan to the Persian Gulf is becoming a security concern, report says
A study released on Saturday by the U.S.‑based think tank Middle East Forum warns that Pakistan’s network of labour workers in the Gulf—including those in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar—has turned into a fertile ground for radicalisation. The report describes how vulnerable workers, exposed to sectarian and extremist rhetoric while in isolated compounds, can be recruited into transnational terror groups.
The research notes that returnees from the Gulf reinforce Pakistan’s existing Islamist networks such as Tehrik‑e‑Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar‑e‑Taiba. At the same time, migrants who travel onward via Turkey‑Balkans or Libya corridors create “blind spots” in Europe’s counter‑radicalisation efforts, allowing a largely unmonitored security threat to slip through.
According to the report, the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment in Pakistan has long treated migration as a purely economic issue, focusing on workers’ rights and job availability. The new findings highlight a “critical oversight” that a security vector also exists within this labour corridor.
Key points from the report include:
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Saudi Arabia’s expulsions (late 2016‑early 2017): About 40 000 Pakistani nationals were kicked out for alleged ties to ISIS, involvement in terror plots, or being deemed high‑risk security threats. An additional 82 individuals faced Saudi intelligence custody.
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Repatriation by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states (2012‑2015): Over 240 000 returnees were sent back to Pakistan, most coming from districts with heavy terrorist activity. Pakistan reportedly did not conduct systematic debriefs on these individuals, allowing Gulf‑influenced ideologies to mingle with pre‑existing grievances and push some back into groups like the TTP and Lashkar‑e‑Taiba.
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Impact on Europe: The study argues that European security agencies should pay more attention to the point of entry for Pakistani nationals because many arrive having spent years in Gulf labour camps that espouse extreme interpretations of Islam. Once in Europe, these individuals often connect with Pakistani community organisations and charities that, in turn, link them to clerics trained in the Gulf, perpetuating the dangerous ideology.
The Middle East Forum report calls for a more nuanced approach to monitoring Pakistani migration to the Gulf, warning that a failure to address this issue could expose a stealthy security vector that currently remains largely unobserved.
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