Following is the full text of International Organization for Migration,
INTRODUCTION
The first page of this snapshot presents the number of Pakistani nationals who arrived by land and sea in Europe and those who transited through the Western Balkan and Eastern Europe region in 2023. The data on arrivals and transits is made available by national authorities and then gathered by the the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) team in Europe.1 It is important not to sum up the figures, as this could entail double counting migrants who transited through multiple countries. The second page shows numbers of Pakistani nationals residing in Europe by gender and European region as reported by Eurostat and the UK Office of Statistics. The final pages present the findings of the Flow Monitoring Survey (FMS) conducted by DTM Europe in seven European countries during 2023.
The snapshot is part of the outputs of the European Union (EU) – funded DTM project “Regional Evidence for Migration Analysis and Policy” (REMAP). The objective of DTM REMAP is to strengthen the evidence- based formulation and implementation of humanitarian and development policy and programming on migration and forced displacement.
NUMBER OF PAKISTANI NATIONALS WHO ARRIVED BY LAND AND SEA IN EUROPE IN 20231
Italy 7,867 (84%)
Greece 1,178 (13%)
Cyprus 320 (3%)
Malta 12 (<1%)
Spain 4 (<1%)
NUMBER OF PAKISTANI NATIONALS WHO TRANSITED THROUGH THE WESTERN BALKAN AND EASTERN EUROPE REGION IN 2023
Slovenia 5,499 (37%)
Croatia 4,981 (33%)
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1,371 (9%)
Albania 812 (6%)
Romania 724 (5%)
Montenegro 717 (5%)
North Macedonia 704 (5%)
Kosovo 10 (<1%)
According to Eurostat, a total of 398,065 Pakistani nationals resided in Europe4 in 2023. Sixty-seven per cent of them are male and the remaining thirty-three per cent were females. The number of Pakistani nationals in each European country in 2023 is shown in the below table (table 1) together with sex-disaggregated numbers. In addition, based on the UK Office of Statistics there have been 456,000 Pakistani nationals present in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) between July 2020 and June 2021.
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Table 1: Number of nationals from Pakistan residing in Europe as of 01 January 2023, by region, country and sex
EUROPEAN COUNTRY PAKISTANI % PAKISTANI MALE FEMALE
REGION NATIONAL RESIDENTS NATIONAL RESIDENTS
Northern Europe 496,410 58% 266,460 229,950
Northern Europe United Kingdom 456,000 53% 244,000 212,000
Northern Europe Sweden 18,163 2% 10,753 7,410
Northern Europe Ireland 11,553 1% 5,658 5,895
Northern Europe Norway 5,764 1% 2,904 2,860
Northern Europe Finland 3,908 0% 2,412 1,496
Northern Europe Estonia 698 0% 483 215
Northern Europe Latvia 144 0% 126 18
Northern Europe Iceland 105 0% 66 39
Northern Europe Lithuania 75 0% 58 17
Southern Europe 257,781 30% 183,071 74,710
Southern Europe Italy 144,129 17% 104,754 39,375
Southern Europe Spain 103,683 12% 70,772 32,911
Southern Europe Portugal 9,922 1% 7,512 2,410
Southern Europe Slovenia 47 0% 33 14
Western Europe 94,781 11% 58,494 36,287
Western Europe Germany 77,242 9% 48,552 28,690
Western Europe The Netherlands 6,540 1% 3,624 2,916
Western Europe Belgium 5,921 1% 3,208 2,713
Western Europe Austria 4,528 1% 2,783 1,745
Western Europe Luxembourg 550 0% 327 223
Eastern Europe 5,093 1% 4,171 922
Eastern Europe Romania6 2,255 0% 2,101 154
Eastern Europe Hungary 1,893 0% 1,411 482
Eastern Europe Czech Republic 761 0% 524 237
Eastern Europe Bulgaria 128 0% 86 42
Eastern Europe Slovakia 56 0% 49 7
GRAND TOTAL 854,065 100% 512,196 341,869
Note: 2023 data for Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Malta and Poland are not available as of 01 May 2024.
Source: Eurostat, UK Office of Statistics.
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DTM Europe conducted a Flow Monitoring Survey (FMS) in 2023, interviewing 373 Pakistani migrants across seven European countries. The majority of respondents were surveyed in Italy (74%). Nearly all respondents were male (99%, 368), and a significant majority were young adults between 18 and 34 (88%). Seventy-four per cent of respondents were single, and only 22 per cent reported having children. In terms of education, respondents were relatively well-educated, with 61 per cent having at least lower secondary education. Before departure, 68 per cent of respondents reported being employed or self-employed.
The largest proportion of respondents were from Punjab (69%) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (21%), while other provinces represented a smaller share.
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DISTRICTS OF PROVINCE # %
ORIGIN (TOP 10)
1. Gujrat Punjab 57 18%
2. Mandi Bahauddin Punjab 39 12%
3. Sialkot Punjab 36 11%
4. Gujranwala Punjab 36 11%
5. Lahore Punjab 20 6%
6. Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 16 5%
7. Khyber Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 15 5%
8. Bajaur Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 12 4%
9. Mohmand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 9 3%
10. Islamabad Islamabad 7 2%
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REASONS FOR LEAVING PAKISTAN
Personal violence 47%
Economic 38%
Conflict 9%
Limited basic services 7%
Slow environmental change 3%
Sudden natural disaster 2%
Education 2%
Other 2%
Economic reasons (47%) are most commonly reported by respondents from Punjab as a reason to leave Pakistan
Personal violence (65%) is most commonly reported by respondents from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a reason to leave Pakistan.
During the interviews, respondents were asked to identify their two most significant reasons for leaving Pakistan. Almost half of the respondents (47%) cited personal violence as a crucial factor prompting their departure from the country. Economic concerns were also prominent, with 38 per cent of respondents indicating them as significant reasons. Additionally, 9 per cent mentioned conflict, while 7 per cent highlighted limited access to basic services. Other factors were cited by only a small number of respondents.
For those who mentioned personal violence or economic reasons, further clarification was sought. Personal violence was most frequently linked to family issues (27%), Taliban persecution (24%), political unrest (21%), and religious persecution (7%). Regarding economic factors, the vast majority cited lack of employment opportunities (80%) as their primary reason for leaving the country.
Half of the respondents commenced their journey from Pakistan, while Greece and Türkiye were also commonly chosen departure countries.7 Nearly three out of four respondents initiated their journey from their departure country in 2023, and 91 per cent arrived in the country of the interview during the same year.
Seventy-four percent of respondents informed DTM that they paid more than USD 2,500 for their journey, with a significant portion paying over USD 5,000 (44%).
Respondents utilized a variety of transportation to leave the country of departure to the first transit country, ranging from walking (40%) and overland travel (31%) to air travel (28%). Only one per cent of respondents used boats for their journey.8 To reach the country of the interview, most respondents entered through a land border (74%), while 26 per cent entered through a sea border.
Respondents were also asked about their intended country of destination, both at the time of departure and at the time of the interview. These preferences remained largely consistent. Italy and Germany were the top two countries at both times, although the proportion of respondents choosing Italy at the time of the interview (83%) was significantly higher than at departure (63%). Other countries represented only a small share of respondents.
Safety (42%) emerged as the primary consideration for respondents when selecting their intended destination country, followed by socio- economic factors (31%) and access to asylum (20%). Family and networks (3%) played a less significant role in their decision-making process, while only one per cent of respondents indicated that this country was their sole choice.
Contrary to prevailing assumptions, the significance of networks and the presence of family and relatives in the destination country may not exert as strong an influence as commonly believed.
A notable portion of respondents, almost one in three or 31 per cent, reported experiencing readmission or push back incidents during their journey. Among those who had faced such situations, the average number of occurrences was four, with instances ranging from 1 to 20 times. Croatia (31%), Greece (24%), and Bulgaria (21%) were the countries from which respondents most commonly reported being readmitted or pushed back.
Respondents typically opt for two main routes: one overland and the other involving air travel followed by sea. The overland route typically passes through Iran (Islamic Republic of ), Türkiye, and the Western Balkans, leading to final destinations such as Italy, France, or Germany. Alternatively, travellers may journey from Türkiye by boat to Greece and then onwards to their ultimate destinations. The second route involves air travel through the United Arab Emirates, continuing to Egypt and Libya. From Libya, respondents cross the Central Meditteranean Sea to reach Italy and Europe.