UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESSES OF REPATRIATION AND INTEGRATION OF IRREGULAR PAKISTANI MIGRANTS TO EUROPE

Abstract

Pakistan is one of the largest irregular migrants sending country in South Asia. Thisstudy aims at exploring and understanding the processes of repatriation and integration of irregular Pakistani migrants to Europe. It is a qualitative study based on the interviews of 9 respondents who reached Europe through irregular means, working there for some years and then got deported to Pakistan. The universe of the study was district Sialkot. The participants of the study were selected through Snow-ball Sampling. The researcher used interview guide as a tool to collect data, and conducted face-to-face in-depth interviews. The interviews were initially recorded on mobile phone and later transcribed into English, and themes were extracted from the transcribed data. Six major themes emerged out of the data: use of remittances, family enmity, caste system, environmental pollution factor, marriage and exposure. The study concluded that if the deportation was voluntary, the reason for the successful repatriation and integration already existed leading to the successful repatriation of the deportee. The theme of family enmity supported this point. Moreover, the marriage of the deportee and use of their remittances in cash generating activities helped them a lot in their successful repatriation. On the other hand, discrimination faced by the deportees on the basis of caste system and environmental pollution were the major factors due to which the deportees were not ready to settle in Pakistan. In addition to this, the exposure of the European countries was not letting the deportees to settle even in the easily accessible Gulf countries.