799 Pakistanis Die Abroad in Two Years as Ministry Gets OEP Report
Official data presented to Parliament shows 799 Pakistani workers died across 13 countries over two years, while records on overseas employment promoters reveal hundreds of unresolved complaints, licence cancellations and cases referred to the FIA.
ISLAMABAD: At least 799 Pakistani workers died across 13 countries during the past two years, while official records have also revealed a substantial backlog of complaints involving Overseas Employment Promoters (OEPs), according to data presented before Parliament.
The country-wise figures, provided in a written response by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, show that Saudi Arabia accounted for 575 of the 799 reported deaths, by far the largest number. The United Arab Emirates followed with 104 and Malaysia with 35.
The remaining figures included 19 Pakistani workers in Qatar, 16 in Oman, 13 in Libya, 10 in the United Kingdom, nine in Bahrain, six in Türkiye, five in Japan, three in Spain, and two each in Italy and Germany.
The overall figure of 799 Pakistani workers dying abroad over the two-year period has also been reported from the information presented to the National Assembly. Importantly, the figures relate to Pakistani workers reported dead abroad and should not be interpreted as the total number of all Pakistani citizens who died overseas during the period.
The official document does not provide a detailed cause-of-death breakdown for all 799 cases. Therefore, the figures alone should not be interpreted as establishing that every death resulted from the same type of accident or workplace incident.
Rs1.3 Billion Assistance Provided to Families
The document also details financial assistance for affected overseas Pakistanis. It states that Rs1.3 billion was disbursed as financial assistance to 3,498 families of deceased or disabled overseas Pakistanis.
Separately, Rs753.29 million in pending dues from host countries was disbursed to 294 families through Pakistani missions covering Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. The Rs753.29 million figure has also been reported in coverage of the parliamentary proceedings.
Nearly 3,000 OEP Complaints Recorded Over Eight Years
The report further provides an eight-year record, from 2019 through 2026, of complaints involving Overseas Employment Promoters.
According to the figures, 2,988 fresh complaints were recorded during 2019–2026. The annual totals also included cases carried forward from previous years.
For 2026, the record shows 1,096 complaints under consideration, comprising 231 fresh complaints and 865 pending from previous years. Of these, 306 were closed during the year, while 52 complaints were referred to the Federal Investigation Agency. The document lists 790 complaints as pending at the end of the reporting period/year.
The 2026 figures further show that 10 OEP licences were cancelled and 16 suspended, while Rs8.66 million was forfeited to the state.
Across the 2019–2026 figures contained in the document, 2,537 complaints were closed, while 777 cases were referred to the FIA.
910 OEP Licences Cancelled Over Eight-Year Period
The same data shows particularly extensive regulatory action against OEP licences over the eight-year period. A calculation of the annual figures gives 910 licences cancelled and 122 suspended between 2019 and 2026.
The annual forfeiture figures contained in the document total approximately Rs183.396 million over the same period.
However, the annual “pending at end of year” figures should not be added together to claim thousands of separate unresolved complaints because cases remaining pending in one year can be carried into the following year’s figures. This distinction is important to avoid double-counting the same complaints.
The data points to continuing regulatory scrutiny of Pakistan’s overseas employment sector, particularly the handling of complaints against recruitment promoters and the recovery of dues owed to overseas workers and their families.
