ISLAMABAD – The flagship labour agreement between Pakistan and Belarus, announced earlier this year with promises of 150,000 overseas jobs for Pakistani workers, is rapidly unravelling amid questions over its economic feasibility and a surge in illegal migration.
However, the analysts have cast doubt on the viability of deploying such a large workforce to Belarus – a country grappling with international sanctions, stagnant growth, and rising inflation – while the lack of any formal recruitment framework or government oversight has left thousands of Pakistani migrants stranded in Eastern Europe with no jobs, no protections, and no safe passage forward.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in April during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s official visit to Minsk and was hailed as a breakthrough initiative to provide skilled employment opportunities for Pakistanis in healthcare, IT, construction, and engineering sectors. However, nearly three months later, there is still no framework in place to implement the agreement. Officials from the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BE&OE) have confirmed that no feasibility study has been conducted, no licensed overseas employment promoters have been engaged, and no guidelines have been issued for sending workers to Belarus.
Meanwhile, the absence of structured migration channels has triggered a disturbing spike in irregular migration. Data from the Eastern Europe shows that between January 1 and June 22 this year, nearly 14,000 illegal border-crossing attempts were recorded at the Belarus–Poland border, with Pakistani nationals ranked among the top eight nationalities involved. Many migrants, misled by promises of high-paying jobs, are entering Belarus on visitor visas and attempting to cross into the European Union through Poland, Lithuania, or Latvia.
On the ground, the reality is starkly different from the promises made. Migrants are arriving to find no verified jobs, no recruiters, and no support system. With Belarus’s average monthly salary between $670 and $700, and the minimum wage roughly $200, the promised monthly wage of $1,100 for Pakistani workers appears highly unrealistic. Belarus’s economy, already under strain from Western sanctions, offers few genuine employment prospects for foreign labour. Analysts argue that the agreement was politically driven and lacked the economic grounding needed for actual implementation.
Polish authorities have also reported over 150 arrests this year for human smuggling along the Belarusian border. Smuggling networks operating in the region, including some linked to Afghan criminal groups, have been accused of robbing, abusing, and even kidnapping migrants. Many are abandoned in marshes and forests near the Polish frontier, where they face extreme weather, violence, and a growing risk of death. Belarusian border forces have also been accused of physically assaulting migrants, seizing their belongings, and pushing them towards EU borders while simultaneously blocking humanitarian assistance.
According to sources in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hostility toward migrants is also on the rise across Europe. Countries such as Germany have reintroduced strict border checks and tightened asylum procedures. In Poland, the entire eastern frontier is now sealed with high fences and surveillance systems. Local residents, influenced by growing nationalist sentiment, have expressed concerns over the influx of non-European migrants and often show open resistance to accepting them into communities. The social and linguistic barriers are further amplified in Belarus, where very few people speak English, and access to housing or employment for foreigners is severely limited. There is also growing demand for an audit of Pakistan’s bilateral employment agreements to prevent similar crises in the future.
The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development has not provided clarity on the status of the MoU or taken steps to assist the migrants affected by the situation. Diplomatic missions in this regard remain largely silent. With no structured response in place to offer shelter, legal aid, or repatriation support, the policy experts from the Centre for Migration Research Pakistan (CMRP) have urged immediate government action.
They recommend public awareness campaigns to counter misinformation about overseas job offers, enforcing the Emigration Ordinance, 1979, against unlicensed recruiters, and engaging EU and Belarusian authorities to ensure the humane treatment of migrants.
