IOM: At least 100 million Pakistanis want to come to Europe! – How many of them will stay in Greece?

According to a November 14 report by the International Organization for Migration, the South Asian country has risen to fifth place among the countries with the highest number of illegal immigrants in Europe, while according to the IOM, up to 40% of Pakistanis want to leave their country immediately.

Europe is faced with the possible influx of at least 100 million Pakistanis from a country of 242 million residents who may wish to make their way to the continent via Greece.

In 2022, the Islamic Republic was not even among the top 10 countries in terms of illegal immigration to Europe. In less than two years, they country climbed into the top five — and continues climbing.

The IOM report cites economic challenges, political instability, unemployment, inflation, terrorism and limited educational opportunities as the main reasons for the mass exodus from Pakistan to the West.

But this may be a rather partial and superficial explanation of the phenomenon, according to ProNews.

What fuels migration from this country to Europe is not just a desire for a better life. Illegal immigration is one of the biggest illegal businesses in the world today. Moreover, it is also the vehicle of orchestrated Islamist expansionism.

With the involvement of corrupt officials, people smuggling has become the biggest source of revenue in large parts of Pakistan.

Illegal immigration is also a multibillion-dollar business in the West, with governments and international organisations feeding taxpayer money to NGOs that facilitate and complement smugglers.

There is also a paradox to be noted here: Many of those who wish to leave their homeland because of perceived hardship or lack of freedoms often also want to export their hardline views and religious fanaticism to countries where they are accepted as refugees.

The case of the Dawat-e-Islami organisation is very typical. Founded in Pakistan in 1981, the Sunni Islamist group has taken advantage of the current wave of illegal immigration from Pakistan to the West to become an international actor promoting a militant agenda.

Dawat-e-Islami runs religious schools, Islamic institutes with several hundred campuses worldwide, and a global television and news network. At the same time, it holds massive religious and political gatherings in South Asian and Western countries.

However, the organisation's footprint is not always peaceful. In a recent article in the Middle East Forum, journalist and political analyst Uzay Bulut has drawn attention to the links between Dawat-e-Islami and a series of jihadist killings and attacks around the world — from Pakistan and India to Scotland and the murderous attack on Charlie Hebdo.

Thus, Pakistanis go west, although not always with the intention of adapting to Western values. And they do it en masse.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), every year, 300,000 people, most of whom are young men (60% are under 30), leave the country illegally, travelling through routes involving Dubai, Turkey, Egypt and Libya.

Pakistan itself does not seem willing to stop this trend.

It has not signed the 1949 ILO Convention on Migration for Employment, the 1975 Migrant Workers Convention, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, or the Palermo Protocol on Smuggling of Migrants, Trafficking in Persons and Other Transnational crimes.

Islamabad also seems indifferent to the loss of people who perish trying to leave the country.

In June 2023, after a fishing boat capsized and sank about 50 miles off Pylos, killing more than 300 Pakistanis, the HRCP called on Islamabad to take responsibility "for its part" in the tragedy.

As for the EU, it is watching without putting any real pressure on Islamabad or other countries involved in sending illegal immigrants to Europe. Instead, it sets rules that prevent first-entry countries like Italy, Greece or Spain from defending their borders.

Pakistan's population is roughly half that of the EU. Europeans are getting old and dying, while Pakistanis are young and heading here.

It's not that hard to see where this is going...

READ MORE: Pakistanis protest in the centre of Athens: “They bring their internal problems to Greece.”