Reintegration of Pakistani Return Migrants from the Middle East in the Domestic Labour Market

In: The Pakistan development review: PDR, Band 37, Heft 2, S. 99-124

Abstract

This study aims, first, to assess unemployment levels among
both return migrants and non-migrants and, second, to examine the
reintegration pattern of returnees in the domestic labour market. The
study has used three data sets: the 1980 PIDE/World Bank Survey of
Return Migrant Households, the 1986 ILO/ARTEP Survey of Return Migrant
Households, and the 1991 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey. The
results show that unemployment rates are much higher among return
migrants than among non-migrants. Although this difference has narrowed
with the passage of time, even among those who returned to Pakistan at
least 18 months prior to the surveys, more than 10 percent of workers
are unemployed. The multivariate analysis further shows that returnees,
irrespective of the period elapsed since their return, are more likely
to be unemployed than non-migrants. With respect to the reintegration
pattern of return migrants, the study reveals that the variables
indicating their human capital such as occupation and premigration and
during-migration work experience appear to have greater influence on
their re-absorption than the variables related to economic positions
such as savings. The possibility is that unemployed returnees can not
save enough from their overseas earnings to become self-employed.
Provision of credit for self-employment seems to be the right way to
accommodate these workers. The study also shows that the majority of
workers who are able to find employment on return are satisfied with
their post-return jobs and income levels, suggesting their successful
reintegration in the domestic labour market.