Islamabad, Pakistan – In December last year, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan poses an unlikely threat to the country’s government. He launched a civil disobedience movement.
“As part of the movement, we encourage Pakistanis overseas to restrict remittances and launch a boycott campaign,” read the message posted to X on their account.
With a volatile and balanced economy, the country is seeking new loans and debt rollovers from major allies such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China, turning off a huge amount of Pakistan’s overseas remittances You can do it.
Noting that call, 28-year-old Muhammad Wasem, a dedicated supporter of Khan’s Pakistan Teherek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Doha, Katar, called his family in Pakistan’s Punjab. He told me he would temporarily suspend monthly installments of cash he had been sending since moving to the Middle East last August.
“I sent nearly 4,000 Katari riyals (300,000 Pakistani rupees or $1,096) a month to support my family, but as soon as I heard what Imran Khan said, I told them I told her I wouldn’t send you money,” Jazeera.
Waseem, a barber of the profession, said he plans to save money and turn to his brother, who runs a dairy business in Rahim Yar Khan, a city in southern Punjab.
“But my brother asked me for help so I think I’ll have to resume sending money to them next month,” he added, but he will send less money than before. I said I was going to.
Despite his initial enthusiasm, Waseem is far from his disgust of not wanting to stop sending him back home.
Khan, who was Pakistan’s prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022, was resigned through a lackluster parliamentary vote and is known to enjoy widespread support among the country’s diaspora, from the Middle East to North America.
However, despite Khan’s demand to stop remittances, recent figures from Pakistan’s central bank have shown that the country’s remittance, a key pillar of the economy, is 25% in January compared to the same month in 2024. It suggests that it has increased.
Pakistanis abroad sent over $3 billion in remittances in January, according to data released by the Pakistan State Bank (SBP). This marked two consecutive months when remittances exceeded the $3 billion mark.
The numbers suggest that Khan may have lost the fight to use remittances as weapons against the government.
In fact, in 2024, Pakistan received the highest annual remittance total in history, reaching $34.1 billion, an increase of 32% from 2023.
Ahmed Kabia was originally from Lower Dillet in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and now works in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and for him, sending money back to Pakistan is not a matter of political preference, but a need. I explained that this is.
Kabia recently moved to Saudi Arabia and joined two brothers who had lived there for the past seven years.
“The only reason we leave our family is to make money for them and send it back. There is no land, business or any other means of income. That’s why my brother moved here. , and now I’m following in their footsteps,” Kabia told Al Jazeera.
Kabeer, a recent graduate of SWAT University, is seeking employment opportunities in both Riyadh and Jeddah to avoid being a burden on his brothers working as workers.
“They work 12-hour shifts and collectively send back between 2,000-3,000 Saudi Riyals (150,000-225,000 Pakistani Rupees or $533-800) per month. What I was able to study in college was It was just for their money,” he added.
Kabeer, fifth of the 12 brothers, is also a PTI supporter and sympathizes with Khan’s call to limit remittances. But when he faces the choice to support Khan and his family, he says, “it’s not an option at all.”
“It’s easy to request that we stop sending money. We’re here for our families. If we don’t support them, why are we here? Is that about our siblings, our parents, our children. We have to send the money home,” he said. “If Karn told me he couldn’t send money to my mother because she asked me not to do so, she would probably tell me to sit in prison with him,” he added with a laugh.
Raja Babar Salwal, owner of a restaurant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, reflects similar sentiments. He has been living in Jeddah with his brother-in-law since 2011.
Salwar, a father of three from Peshawar, said his only reason to work abroad is to provide his family and ensure their happiness.
“I really don’t care about politics or what leaders are saying. We’re not here to do politics, we’re here to make money,” Salwar said. He told Jazeera.
Running a restaurant serving Pakistani cuisine to a diverse range of customers, Sarwar employs 8-10 staff members from various regions of Pakistan.
“I know each of my workers is back home between 1,500-2,000 SAR (110,000-150,000 Pakistani Rupees or 400-533 dollars). My brother-in-law and I have about 4,000 yen each month. We will send SAR (300,000 Pakistani rupee or $1,066) to the family,” he said.
Sajid Amin Javed, senior economist at the Institute for Sustainable Development Policy (SDPI) in Islamabad, suggested that this was not surprising.
Most remittances sent from Pakistanis abroad, particularly those in the Gulf, are intended to support vulnerable families in their hometowns, he said.
“The money sent to your hometown by the Pakistani citizens is inherently involuntary. They have to send it to cover the household expenses. With a few exceptions, they have to take this issue. There’s no choice,” Javed told Al Jazeera.
However, Javed pointed out the additional factors behind the recent surge in remittances.
“The rupee was highly valued against the US dollar last year and at a stable currency rate, Pakistanis abroad must send more money to meet family costs,” he explained.
Pakistani rupee, Asia’s worst performance currency against US dollars depreciated by more than 60% between 2022 and 2024, has been stable between Rs 278-280 per US dollar for the past 12 months .
With the government enforce strict controls and cracking down on illegal remittance channels, increasing trust in the official banking system has led to an increase in remittance flow, the economists stressed.
“The nature of Pakistan’s remittance is not resilient for political narratives as it is driven by the needs of household consumption. Some individuals, especially strong supporters, may follow the advice of their leaders. , the majority of Pakistani senders have no choice but to continue supporting their families,” Javed said.
