ISLAMABAD - A large number of Pakistanis are working in foreign countries but a large number of them face some creepy problems including non-payment of wages, delayed salaries, substandard living and working conditions, documents available with The Nation reveal.

These Pakistani workers, mostly the labourers, prefer going to Middle Eastern countries in search of jobs and better future prospect but the most shocking fact about them was non-payment of wages by the companies they work for.

Around 8,500 Pakistani workers were affected since January 2016 due to non-payment of wages by some construction companies in Saudi Arabia, reveal official documents.

According to the documents, other difficulties facing these overseas Pakistanis include non-issuance of release letters by the employers for a change of visa or sponsorship.

“These include the non-implementation of Foreign Service Agreement (FSA) and residential and work permit/Iqama related problems,” says the official documents while shedding light on the hardships being faced by the working class.

“The delay in issuance of NICOP, POC and machine-readable passport (MRP) from Pakistan missions in different countries is also one of the major problems faced by these Pakistanis.”

The Pakistani government, according to the official documents, has taken a number of steps to resolve the difficulties of overseas Pakistanis.

According to the documents, the Pakistani government has also taken special interest to resolve the issue of the Pakistani workers affected in Saudi.

“There is 2.6 million Pakistani community in the Saudi Kingdom including 84 percent employed and 16 percent dependents,” according to Pakistani mission in KSA.

The mission further says, “the number of affected Pakistani workers due to non-payment of wages by some construction companies since May 2016 was between 8,000 and 8,500. It makes 28 percent of the total Pakistani workforce in Kingdom.”

The government of Pakistan, says the documents, through its missions in Saudi Arabia, has played a proactive role to not only in the resolution of the issue of non-payment of wages to Pakistani workers but also ensure the provision of basic necessities like food and medical treatment.

“Approximately 8500 Pakistani workers were affected by the recent crisis. Out of them, around 4856 workers have flown back to Pakistan free of cost from Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam,” revealed the documents.

“The Pakistani mission coordinated with different companies to conduct interviews of Pakistani workers and due to their efforts, 3352 workers have been transferred to new employers for jobs. Moreover, efforts are being made for the settlement of remaining 367 workers.”

The government of Pakistan has disbursed Rs50,000 per family to around 5500 affected workers who have not got salaries for months from their companies,” according to the documents.

Although the issues of overseas Pakistanis vary from country to country but mostly the work related issues are in Middle Eastern/Gulf countries. “These problems are being taken up at a high level by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and officials of Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis during their visit to countries,” claimed the government, according to the documents.

Moreover, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistan and Human Resource Development has established 19 offices of community welfare attaches in 16 missions functional in 14 countries in order to maintain close liaison with the Pakistani community and authorities of host countries. “A network of focal persons comprising prominent overseas Pakistanis in the host countries has been formed to help resolve the issues,” it says.

In order to facilitate the overseas Pakistanis for sending their remittances, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis also launched a joint initiative called Pakistan Remittance Initiative in 2009, according to the measures taken by the government to resolve difficulties.