The label of being a country exporting workforce infected with diseases can prove detrimental to the Pakistan's image and economy alike

Earlier this year, the decision taken by the Kuwaiti government to lift ban on issuing visas to Pakistanis, in place for the last seven years, was celebrated by the ordinary citizens and the government alike. This meant that Pakistani nationals could now obtain working, business and family visas once again and add to the list of about 60,000 Pakistanis currently employed in Kuwait. The decision came as a blessing for the travel agents and employment agencies

who pounced on the opportunity to mint money and send armies of skilled and unskilled force to the land of opportunities. Thanks to their expertise in fulfilling the toughest of requirements, these agents succeeded in obtaining visas for their clients who were willing to pay as high as Rs 2 hundred thousand to 3 hundred thousand per head for a work visa. Reportedly, the unique services they provided in return for this money included issuance of medical certificates and NOCs from law enforcement agencies without even bothering the visa aspirants to move out of their comfortable dwellings.

It was only when such Pakistani workers who had landed in Kuwait started facing deportations, mainly on medical grounds, that the issue came into limelight. The worst part of the story is that the agents did not even tell their less knowledgeable clients that all the immigrants landing in Kuwait have to undergo comprehensive medical tests and anyone failing to qualify is deported forthwith. As per requirement, all the immigrants coming on work visas are required to undergo medical tests and obtain fingerprint certificates before their residence visa can be processed.

Ijaz Ahmed, who returned soon after his arrival in Kuwait on work visa, tells TNS that he had little knowledge of what was in store for him at the port of his entry. "As soon as we landed, we were subjected to long medical tests at the port on submission of passports, copies of NOCs, photographs and nominal fees in the shape of revenue stamp."

He says there is no system of appointments and people are asked to stand in long queues for various procedures. "These include a chest x-ray and blood tests for serious infectious diseases, such as HIV (AIDS), tuberculosis, hepatitis B & C, typhoid and malaria. Besides, a meningitis vaccination is also given. It takes about a week for the results and all the persons found to be infected with epidemic diseases are deported without any right of appeal," he informed.

Ijaz goes on to say that as many of these deportees had spent all their lifelong earnings to buy work visas from agents, they are not even in a position to buy tickets for their journey home. "This is what people are getting after spending hundreds of thousands of rupees. Had the local laboratories diagnosed the diseases properly, the fate of these deportees would have been different," he contends.

On being contacted by TNS for comments, a representative of a renowned travel agency located at Gill Plaza, Barkat Market, Garden Town denies charges that his agency deals exclusively in obtaining Kuwaiti visas for Pakistanis. "We earn enough from selling airline tickets and are content with whatever we have," he comments.

However, on conditions of not being named, he agrees to the fact that there exists a powerful mafia of agents who enjoy good relations with some Pakistanis employed in Kuwait embassy in Islamabad. Regarding charging Rs 2 to 3 hundred thousand from visa aspirants, he says the practice is illegal as only nominal token fees worth a few Kuwaiti dinars are charged by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour. "Anything above this amount is purely profit shared by sponsor (Kafeel), agent and all others involved in the process of endorsing the visa," he claims.

In this backdrop, one can easily foresee that if timely action is not undertaken to check these malpractices, Pakistan can once again face a similar ban that was imposed seven years back. The decision taken by Kuwait this week to temporarily ban issuance of visit visas to Pakistanis on security concerns is undoubtedly a step towards this direction. Previously, the country earned bad name mostly for the reason that Pakistani passports were issued with criminal negligence to aliens who carried illegal drugs to Kuwait. And, this time, a label of being a country exporting workforce infected with diseases like Hepatitis can prove detrimental to the country's image and economy alike.