KARACHI, Oct 29: The recent ban on “illiterate workers” by Saudi Arabia will add to the already worsening unemployment problem in Pakistan, though some experts argue that the impact will be “slight”.

The new regulations regarding manpower import have made it “mandatory for the labour force to be able to read and write”.

And even though the regulations do not discriminate between semi-skilled and skilled workers, Dr Sabur Ghayur, chairman of the Policy Planning Cell, Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, calls it a wake-up call for “us” and how “we should start training our workers better because the overseas labour markets demand better qualifications and skills”.

Currently some 1,200,000 Pakistanis are working in Saudi Arabia while the new regulations are likely to reduce export of workforce by “two-thirds”.

Mr Ahsanullah Khan, president of the Workers Employers Bilateral Council of Pakistan, said although the exact statistics of the affected are not directly available, the Saudi government has every right to enforce this regulation. “The Saudis are moving towards industrialisation now, which is why they prefer a workforce that is either skilled or semi-skilled — and definitely one with workers who have their own signatures as opposed to thumbprints.”

“Both the Saudi agricultural as well as industrial sector want more efficient semi-skilled and skilled workers and unfortunately the productivity of Pakistani workers in Saudi Arabia is less than that of workers from the Far East,” he said.

The ban will affect “only those whose visas are being currently processed, and since most Pakistanis are semi-skilled, they are less likely to be affected by the new regulations,” Dr Ghayur said, but Ahsanullah Khan said such measures would “increase unemployment in Pakistan, especially when the concerned minister hasn’t really done much since taking office.”

”It is not only a matter of Pakistanis working abroad. We need semi-skilled and skilled labour in Pakistan as well but sadly the bodies concerned are not doing their job and most vocational training institutes are in doldrums here. We have trained 40,000-50,000 workers but that is also not enough,” Mr Ahsanullah said. “As for recruiting agencies, several of them are open scams. For example, our workers are sent to Malaysia (which wants semi-skilled and skilled workers in plantation) dubiously and then they realise once they are there, what has been done to them by overseas employment agents in Pakistan.”

Ahmed, a 27-year old man from Faisalabad working in Karachi as a security guard, is among the many who are likely to be directly affected by the Saudi regulations. “I have been working here for almost three years now.” With a brother working in Saudi Arabia, Ahmed wants to follow suit,” if it had not been for this ban...every policy that this government has made, it is people like me who suffer, people who are poor.”

Ahmed, whose brother has not visited Pakistan during the past two years despite their mother’s prolonged illness, is “frustrated with the dearth of opportunities in Pakistan for earning money.” “This policy is not against illiterates, it’s against the poor,” says Ahmed, who has “no faith” that the federal government “will do anything about it.” “How can they help us when they don’t understand us? They are busy stuffing money into their own coffers.”

Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khurshid Shah expressed his concern over the ban and said the government is “talking to the Saudi government in this regard”.

“I am hopeful that the implementation of the new Saudi regulations will be postponed for a year,” he said. “I, however, do think that our workers should at least have passed the matric examination and should be able to read and write in Urdu.” Dr Ghayur also reiterated the government’s resolve to find a solution to this problem through diplomacy and Pakistan’s strong relations with the kingdom. “We are trying our level best that those applicants whose visas are in the process are exempted from the new regulations, so there is at least some amount of damage control,” he said. Mr Ahsanullah is of the view that the kingdom should “allow a certain percentage of workers” despite the ban and Pakistan should pursue the Saudi government in this regard. “As a matter of fact, our ministers and diplomats should also strive to promote Pakistani workers abroad through bilateral agreements with friendly states and also ensure that their rights as a workforce in the international market are not trampled.”

”After the National Employment Policy, we are now in the process of formulating a National Migration Policy. Some of our aims in this regard are to deal with unemployment within Pakistan while at the same time we understand that foreign remittances are also important for promoting increased economic activity in the country,” Dr Ghayur said, adding that “last year some 287,000 Pakistanis went to work in Saudi Arabia and this year the number will exceed 300,000.”

When asked what concrete steps the government had taken to tackle the problem of surging unemployment, Khurshid Shah said: “I am currently in consultations with some companies in the UAE who will be imparting technical training to 500 Pakistanis. The duration of the training is three months and this is a test case. If it works, we have a plan of opening 20 technical training institutes within Pakistan which will equip our workers with various skills.”

Despite assurances from the government which promises to help people like Ahmed, unemployment continues to surge within the country for various reasons. It remains to be seen exactly how the government will deal with the repercussions resulting from the new Saudi regulations, whether their implementation will be postponed for a certain period as Mr Shah and many others hope, and whether (and to what end) the president will take up the issue during his visit to Riyadh next month.