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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Pakistan
Index
Pakistan had a severe balance of payments deficit in
the
1970s. To deal with this deficit, as well as to strengthen
ties
with the Islamic states in the Middle East, the government
of
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto encouraged both skilled and unskilled
men to
work in the Persian Gulf countries. The government set up
a
program under the Ministry of Labour, Manpower, and
Overseas
Pakistanis to regulate this migration and also seconded
military
troops to many of the Gulf states.
By the mid-1980s, when this temporary migration was at
its
height, there were estimated to be more than 2 million
Pakistanis
in the Persian Gulf states remitting more than US$3
billion every
year. At the peak, the remittances accounted for almost
half of
the country's foreign-exchange earnings. By 1990 new
employment
opportunities were decreasing, and the 1990-91 Persian
Gulf War
forced many workers to return quickly to Pakistan. Workers
have
only slowly returned to the Gulf since the war ended.
The majority of the emigrants are working-class men,
who
travel alone, leaving their wives and children behind with
their
extended families in Pakistan. These men are willing to
sacrifice
years with their families for what they see as their only
chance
to escape poverty in a society with limited upward
mobility. A
study in the old quarter (the inner walled city) of Lahore
in
1987 suggested that half of all working-class families had
at
least one close relative working in the Gulf. Families
generally
use the remittances for consumer goods, rather than
investing in
industry. The wage earner typically returns after five to
ten
years to live at home.
Although this migration has had little effect on
Pakistan
demographically, it has affected its social fabric. While
a man
is away from his family, his wife often assumes
responsibility
for many day-to-day business transactions that are
considered the
province of men in this traditional male-dominated
society. Thus
for the women involved, there is a significant change in
social
role. Among the men, psychologists have identified a
syndrome
referred to as "Dubai chalo" ("let's go to Dubai").
This
syndrome, which manifests itself as disorientation,
appears to
result from social isolation, culture shock, harsh working
conditions, and the sudden acquisition of relative wealth.
Men
often feel isolated and guilty for leaving their families,
and
the resultant sociopsychological stress can be
considerable.
Data as of April 1994
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