Nosheen Abbas asks why young Pakistani expatriates are choosing to return home.
Pakistan has experienced the brain drain since Partition for reasons as varied as political instability to inadequate job opportunities. According to some statistics, up to two-thirds of Pakistanis want to migrate. But the trend may be shifting. Nowadays, many young Pakistanis are choosing to return to the Land of the Pure with the intention of carving a forgotten path in a country they left long ago.
But are these students and recent graduates returning because of the post-9/11 global situation and heightened discrimination faced by Pakistanis? Or is it because it’s relatively easier to make a breakthrough here? Can it be that Generation Y is more identity conscious and invested in the future of its country?
Whatever their motivation, young Pakistanis are slowly reversing the brain drain.
For example, Nadia Naviwala is a graduate student in public policy at Harvard University. She is currently in Pakistan working with a non-governmental organisation catering to internally displaced persons (IDPs). She last visited Pakistan five years ago with her family, but says the experience is different now that she’s on her own: ‘After visiting Pakistan and working on the ground, its hard to go back to the United States and be so comfortable.’
Nadia has returned to deepen her academic understanding of the country. ‘I can only learn so much about the country from Washington DC or Cambridge. I came back to learn to understand and experience the country as Pakistanis do, which is different from the Pakistani-American perspective.’
Despite her own motivations, Nadia believes that expatriate Pakistanis return ‘not to make money, but because they feel needed here.’ A case in point is Talha Zaheer, a freelance writer and avid soccer player based in Toronto who is currently in Pakistan making a documentary film. ‘There a lot more opportunities here than abroad,’ he says. ‘There’s so much good work to be done…. I think people need to come here and try to put in new systems that function better. I think if you surround yourself with positive people and keep at it, things will change in Pakistan.
For his part, Omer Aftab, an undergraduate at Harvard University working with a media group in Pakistan, thinks that people return to get a break. ‘There are more opportunities in Pakistan. Like Bill Gates says, where there’s a problem, there’s an opportunity. I’d like to start an entrepreneurial programme that benefits a large number of people.’ He adds that it makes sense to opt for Pakistan rather than another developing country because ‘we can make the most difference here, we understand the community better here, and yes, there is some attachment.’
That attachment can certainly be a good motivating factor. As Sehar Tariq, a student at Princeton, put it, ‘the one thing I’m passionate about is Pakistan. I might not be passionate about climate change, but if it has something to do with Pakistan, I’d do it.’
Ripe with opportunity, in urgent need of development, welcoming and familiar, Pakistan is well positioned to attract its brightest minds back to their homeland. However, the question remains: can expatriates bring about the change we need or are their ambitions merely romantic notions?
