About the Author(s)
The author is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English from Allama Iqbal Open University. She is a content writer with a deep passion for writing, which drives her to explore various forms of expression through words. Her academic background in English enriches her ability to create well-researched and articulate pieces.
In the past few years, there has been a significant rise in the migration of skilled professionals from Pakistan. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey for 2023-2024, more than 13.53 million Pakistanis have chosen to migrate abroad. This migrating trend of brilliant youth/brain is a significant setback for our future development considering not only unemployed individuals are leaving, but those individuals with highly established careers are willing to relocate.
What is brain drain?
Brain drain is a slang term that is used for the migration of skilled workers between countries. It results from unstable economic conditions, unemployment, or a desire to seek a better living standard in the other country. These skilled workers include doctors, engineers, IT professionals, and academics. These individuals are the real assets of the country who depart from the country in a troubling situation.
The year 2022 marks the significant number of people who migrated from Pakistan, rising to approximately 800,000 to 900,000 from 225,000 to 300,000 in 2021. This underscores the challenging situation of the country. The more concerning issue about Pakistanis who are emigrating is that the nation is losing its talented professionals. According to BEOE, in 2022, over 92,000 were graduates and 350,000 were trained workers. This results in a loss of talent for the country.
The Push and Pull model is implemented which clearly explains the causes of why people of Pakistan are leaving, causing a significant rise in brain drain of the country and making Pakistan the second largest country in South Asia with high brain drain rates. These reasons include political instability in Pakistan which took a sharp turn in 2022 when Imran Khan was removed from office. Agha Khan Medical University researched to find out why students want to emigrate. The results were shocking since 95 percent of the students want to migrate because of the low economic situation in the country and the poor quality of the work environment. Some of the push and pull factors in the brain drain of Pakistan can be highlighted, which are:
- Unemployment (According to International Monetary Fund, the unemployment rate in Pakistan rose from 6 percent in 2022 to 8.5 in 2023)
- Terrorism
- Lack of opportunities in Pakistan
- Lack of institutions for conducting research
- Lack of scientific based study
- Poor industrial growth
- Lack of respect of the professionals
- Political and social problems
- Slow promotion process
- Availability of resources in the foreign countries
- Higher salaries in abroad
- Developed legislation in other countries
The Pakistanis are emigrating to the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia (50%), UAE (27%), Oman (7%), Qatar (6%), Malaysia (2.5%) followed by Romania with 0.6%. The exodus of Pakistanis is often linked with living quality- lives in other countries. The fact is quite the opposite as they must initially face cultural shock, homelessness, low wages, and difficulty finding a decent job.
The brain drain in Pakistan has a long history. According to the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, ten million Pakistanis have left the country since 1971. The aspect that is concerning is that most of these immigrants include the younger generation of the country. According to UNESCO’s 127th Executive Conference, the rate of brain drain in Pakistan was recorded as 6.1 in 1990 to 9.2 in 2000. International migration functions as a double-edged sword, providing both benefits and drawbacks. At the micro level, the individual sends money from abroad which improves the living conditions of his family. At the macro level, these remittances help the economic growth of the country. International migration improves the overall condition of the country in case the migrant comes back to their home country, and uses the skills and knowledge which he learned in the host country. This transfer of knowledge and skills leads to innovation in the home country. This explains that international migration of people does not only have bad effects, it also has several advantages which can be termed as “brain gain”.
Labor market relief helps alleviate labor shortages in the destination country. As there are advantages of migration, there are drawbacks that deteriorate the quality of essential services in the host country. The brain drain creates knowledge and educational gaps in the host country due to reduced innovation and lack of competition.
The main problem that brain drain has caused is in the health care system. The health care system is one of the most important units of Pakistan but unfortunately, it is going through the worst conditions in the country. One of the reasons is the migration of skilled doctors. In Pakistan, every year many students graduate from medical colleges and universities but half of them migrate to other countries in search of good wages. These graduates often complain about low salaries, even though they work long hours and face high expectations. The other reason for the brain drain of doctors is the poor condition of the healthcare infrastructure. The exhausting workload, inefficient government policies, and limited options for specialization are among the reasons that drive Pakistani doctors out of the country, making the already worse condition of Pakistan even worse. The brain drain can weaken the institutions of Pakistan because the work is shifted to older generation people of the country when young people leave the country.
The brain drain often happens in the female population of the country as many face harassment cases, low wages, and no paid leave when required. So, improving the working conditions of women will also contribute to a reduced rate of brain drain. To stop brain drain in Pakistan, there are certain actions which have to be taken, most importantly improving the political situation of the country. The people of Pakistan are leaving because of political instability and economic instability. To ensure political stability in Pakistan, it is essential to focus on key factors such as fair governance, rooting out corruption, transparent elections, well-established institutions, unity, enhanced economic conditions, law and order, and incorporating community input. Such actions, if taken, will not just reduce the rate of brain drain in the country but also it will bring back the individuals who have left the country.
