PM Shehbaz urges EU to expand legal migration pathways for Pakistani skilled workers

Profit reported that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the European Union to widen legal migration routes for Pakistani skilled workers and professionals, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office. He told EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, who met him in Islamabad, that safer routes could meet European labour demand and lessen dependence on human smuggling networks. Brunner, on his first visit to Pakistan, also discussed trafficking and labour mobility during the talks.

Shehbaz outlined Pakistan's steps against irregular migration, smuggling and trafficking, including law changes, stronger institutions, enforcement and international cooperation. He argued that such curbs should go hand in hand with regular routes for orderly travel. Separately, Brunner met Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who said Pakistan had adopted a zero-tolerance stance toward irregular migration, and Brunner credited enforcement with a 64% fall in irregular migration to Europe.

The International Organization for Migration released figures on April 21 showing roughly 7,900 people dead or missing on migratory routes globally in 2025. Its Missing Migrants Project has logged more than 80,000 deaths and disappearances since 2014. The agency cautioned that the true toll could exceed recorded numbers and urged wider safe migration options.