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Minsk 'ready to take' up to 150,000 Pakistani workers, raising new migrant‑crisis fears

17.04.2025 15:30
Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko has offered to bring in up to 150,000 skilled workers from Pakistan, a move that could stoke fresh concerns in neighboring EU states over another migration surge on the Polish, Latvian and Lithuanian borders.
Belarusian President AlexanderLukashenko.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.Photo: Drop of Light/Shutterstock

Lukashenko outlined the plan during talks in Minsk last week with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, one of the few foreign leaders willing to engage Belarus’ internationally isolated ruler.

“We agreed that Pakistan will soon dispatch specialists in the sectors we request—perhaps 100,000, maybe 120,000‑150,000,” Lukashenko said, according to state agency BelTA. “We are ready to receive them in Belarus and create the necessary conditions for work.”

Sharif hailed the offer as “a precious gift” and said Pakistan could supply highly qualified personnel. The two leaders also discussed trade, investment and broader economic cooperation, according to officials.

Belarus is grappling with a severe demographic decline and labor shortages—factors Minsk does not publicly acknowledge—while Western governments accuse Lukashenko of orchestrating migrant flows to pressure the EU.

The Belarus‑EU frontier became a flashpoint in 2021, when thousands of Middle Eastern and African migrants attempted to cross into Poland and the Baltic States.

Warsaw, Riga and Vilnius have tightened border controls since then, warning that any new influx channeled through Belarus would be considered a hybrid attack. Polish officials did not immediately comment on Lukashenko’s remarks; Lithuania’s interior minister said Vilnius would monitor the situation “with utmost vigilance.”

Lukashenko’s pledge comes as Belarus deepens ties with non‑Western partners amid heavy EU and U.S. sanctions over its human‑rights record and support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. For Pakistan, the arrangement would offer overseas employment opportunities at a time of economic strain at home.

(jh)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza, RMF24