Matei Visniec in his play “Migrants or Are We Too Many on This Boat” writes, “Today, in the globalized world, we are all migrants…” But do we have the wisdom to understand our new identity? The social and political reality clearly demonstrates that, unfortunately, we are not ready to grasp the significance of the humanitarian core of this saying.

Of course, in a globalized world of free economy and movement of goods, it is fair to have free movement of people from country to country when crises demand it. However, the movement of people from place to place must occur under the lens of security and legality, and migrants must respect the new cultural framework of the country they are trying to integrate into, especially since they are seeking support.

Unfortunately, Pakistan as a country has a long tradition of illegal immigration and crimes committed by Pakistanis in host countries, as Pakistani immigrants fully embody the saying of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that “when you arrive in a new country, you carry your old life in your luggage.”

Pakistan has now risen to fifth place among the countries responsible for the most illegal migrants in Europe, with thousands of Pakistanis risking their lives every year in search of a better future.

According to the latest 2025 report from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), Pakistan is now ranked fifth among the countries with the highest number of illegal migrants in Europe.

This alarming increase has surpassed traditional migration hubs such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, placing Pakistan alongside countries like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq—nations afflicted by conflict and economic instability.

The main route taken by illegal migrants from Pakistan to Europe often starts in major cities like Lahore, Gujranwala and Sialkot, where human traffickers operate networks promising a safe and prosperous life in Europe.

Desperate families often sell their possessions, jewelry and savings to pay large sums to these traffickers, who then facilitate their illegal journey through land and sea routes.

The most common route involves traveling from Pakistan to Iran by road, crossing the border into Turkey through dangerous mountainous terrain, heading towards the Libyan coast via smuggling networks, and boarding overcrowded and unsafe boats from Libya to Italy, Greece or Malta.

However, many migrants never reach their destination, falling victim to drowning, extortion or captivity in detention centers operated by militias or criminal organizations in Libya.

In June 2025, the number of Pakistanis residing in Europe is estimated to be around 2.2 million people. Of these, approximately 398,000 are registered as Pakistani nationals with legal residence in Europe, according to Eurostat data for 2023.

The difference between the two numbers is likely due to people of Pakistani origin who have acquired the citizenship of their country of residence or to undocumented migrants. The largest Pakistani community in Europe is in the United Kingdom, with approximately 2 million people. Immediately following are Italy with 200,000 migrants and Germany with 140,000 migrants of Pakistani origin.

Regarding our country, in Greece it is estimated to be around 60,000 people. The Pakistani community in Greece is primarily male and young, who until recently were only engaged in manual labor, but are now beginning to fill job positions in the technology sector as well. Greece, as a first reception country for migrants, may face increased arrivals of Pakistani migrants in the near future.

The Greek government is closely monitoring developments and collaborating with international organizations to manage migration flows and provide humanitarian aid. While the immediate effects of the India-Pakistan war over Kashmir on migration flows to Greece are not yet fully visible, the ongoing instability in the region is likely to lead to increased migration pressures in the future.

Unfortunately, due to the cultural and religious differences between Pakistan and Europe, Pakistanis cannot easily integrate into the countries they go to, and even worse, they often commit crimes. In England, in January 2025, eight men were sentenced to a total of nearly 58 years in prison for the sexual abuse of two underage girls in Keighley, West Yorkshire, during the 1990s.

The perpetrators, mostly of Pakistani descent, were convicted of rapes and other sexual assaults, with the cases coming to light after testimonies from the victims as adults. Regarding crimes committed by Pakistanis in France, a notable case involves Zaheer Mahmood, who was sentenced in January 2025 to 30 years in prison for the attempted murder of two individuals outside the former offices of the magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2020.

This attack was classified as a terrorist act and was related to the perpetrator’s reaction to the magazine’s satirical publications. In Italy, the most well-known case concerns the murder of 18-year-old Saman Abbas, who disappeared in April 2021 after refusing to marry her cousin in Pakistan.

Her body was found in 2022 in an abandoned farmhouse in northern Italy. In April 2025, an Italian appeals court upheld the life sentences for her parents, while her uncle was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

As for our country, the case of Myrto Papadomichalaki shocked Greek society in the summer of 2012. On July 22 of that year, 15-year-old Myrto was brutally attacked on the Golden Beach of Paros by the Pakistani Ahmed Vakas, who was illegally in Greece. The perpetrator beat her savagely and raped her, resulting in severe cranio-cerebral injuries and leaving her with a 100% disability.

Speaking at a public event in Sialkot on April 19, Pakistan’s Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, pointed out that the problem has reached alarming levels, making it difficult for Pakistanis to obtain visas from other countries.

The Interior Minister of Pakistan, Mohsin Naqvi, announced in the National Assembly that a total of 5,402 Pakistani citizens have been deported from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE since January 2024. The main reason for deportation is begging. The data indicates that 4,850 were deported from these countries in 2024 alone, while 552 returned to Pakistan this year.

The Minister of Defense of Pakistan, Khawaja Asif, stated that the issue of visa acquisition by Pakistanis is linked to the fact that a huge portion of the Pakistani population is professionally engaged in begging, having elevated it to a “profession.” Approximately 22 million people in Pakistan engage in begging, generating around 42 billion annually. This number highlights the scale of the problem.

In 2023, during a Senate committee meeting, the then Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zulfiqar Haider, revealed that the majority of beggars arrested abroad — about 90 percent — were Pakistani nationals. He said that many of them travel with pilgrimage visas to countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, but end up begging instead. India’s Defense Minister, Rajnath Singh, during an event in Jammu and Kashmir, commented on Pakistan’s economic situation, stating that it is so dire that Pakistan is usually associated with professional begging.

The fact that a person sees an organized system of begging as the only means of livelihood means they live in a state with a complete lack of social structure. Pakistan is a theocratic state where the only serious investment made is in military equipment, with the healthcare and education systems being almost nonexistent.

The living conditions are so terrible for the majority of people that they are willing to pay smugglers exorbitant amounts who promise them the European dream. By the time these people reach Europe, however, their meager savings have been exhausted and the promised job is nowhere to be seen.

Thus, they remain trapped in the states. The government has taken some measures to prevent the flow of these individuals, including improving immigration controls and placing nearly 4,000 individuals on the Exit Control List. While this may seem like a proactive approach, in reality, it is mainly reactive, simply addressing the symptoms instead of solving the root cause.

If we truly want to stem the waves of migrants coming from Pakistan, who often engage in criminal activities in the countries they reach, bold measures must be taken, such as implementing effective border control in Europe with drones, cameras and recognition systems.

Finally, with the help of international law and maritime law, intergovernmental agreements with Pakistan must be established, ensuring the rapid return of illegal immigrants and international cooperation to dismantle trafficking rings and terrorist networks.

Of course, all these measures may not be deemed sufficient when we are talking about a theocratic state with a lack of cultural development.