Tag: foreigners

  • Canada to reduce number of temporary foreign workers

    Ottawa, Canada – Canada for the first time is planning to curb the number of temporary foreign workers it welcomes, officials announced Thursday, after years of lofty immigration levels.

    Ottawa is proposing to reduce the number of temporary residents to five percent of the population over the next three years, down from the current 6.2 percent (2.5 million people).

    That target will be firmed up after consultations with Canada’s provinces, some of which have been pushing back on large migrant inflows amid a housing crunch and soaring demands for services.

    Restrictions on temporary foreign worker permits will start on May 1.

    This follows a recently announced cap on new permits for international students and visa requirements for some Mexican travellers.

    “Canada has seen a sharp increase in the volume of temporary residents in recent years, from a rise of international students to more foreign workers filling job vacancies to those fleeing wars and natural disasters,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller told a news conference.

    However, Canada’s labour market is now much tighter, with its population growth, fueled by massive immigration, outpacing job creation.

    According to government data, job vacancies fell 3.6 percent to 678,500 in the last three months of 2023, marking the sixth straight quarterly decline from a record high of 983,600 reached in the second quarter of 2022.

    “Changes are needed to make the system more efficient and more sustainable,” Miller said.

    Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault urged employers to consider hiring refugees before seeking to bring in temporary foreign workers.

    He said businesses that are currently allowed to have temporary foreign workers make up to 30 percent of their workforce will see that proportion drop to 20 percent, except in the health care and construction sectors.

    Canada’s immigration department, meanwhile, has been ordered by Miller to conduct a review of existing programs that bring in temporary labourers to better align them with labour needs and weed out abuses.

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    © Agence France-Presse

  • Pakistan grants citizenship to 214 foreigners, including 159 Indians

    Pakistan grants citizenship to 214 foreigners, including 159 Indians

    According to official documents accessed by SAMAA TV Investigation Unit, the Interior Ministry has granted Pakistani citizenship to 214 foreigners in the last five years.

    The reasons for granting citizenship included marriages, family relationships, professions, and long-term residency in Pakistan. Of the 214 foreigners, 159 were Indians, while 55 were citizens of other countries, including four Afghans, three Chinese, four Bangladeshis, one Italian, one Swiss, three Americans, two Canadians, and four British nationals.

    Additionally, more than 20 nationals of Burma, Philippine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal also obtained Pakistani citizenship during this period.

    The documents also showed that two Indians were granted Pakistani nationality last month, with 55 granted in 2019, 43 in 2018, 27 in each of 2020 and 2021, and 18 in the previous year. The ministry still had thousands of pending applications for citizenship approval.

  • Foreigners’ security cell to be established in Islamabad

    Foreigners’ security cell to be established in Islamabad

    Islamabad police is establishing a foreigners’ security cell in the Central Police Office (CPO), with the required personnel and logistics.

    Under the supervision of DIG Operations, the District Foreign Security Cell (DFSC) will be led by Additional Superintendent Operations.

    It was decided at a meeting in the Central Police Office presided over by Inspector General of Police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan. Senior police officers from Islamabad were in attendance. On the pattern of CPEC Security, it was decided to apply all standard operating procedures for non-China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) security projects.

    Correspondingly, the Special Branch, Counter-Terrorism Department, and Security Division will conduct regular audits of the security measures. Islamabad police will employ Chinese-speaking early age Pakistani men and women to aid Chinese residents working on non-CPEC projects and for other private companies.

    The session was notified that efforts are being made to protect foreign nationals in compliance with Ministry of Interior directives. The Foreign Office and other law enforcement agencies will be consulted as needed. While the National Database Registration Authority will assist DFSC in data integration.

  • Pakistani in Japan reaches out to homeless, detained foreigners

    Pakistani in Japan reaches out to homeless, detained foreigners

    A Pakistani, Haroon Qureshi, who arrived in Japan as a student some 30 years ago, is reaching out to those living on the margins of society.

    According to a report published in Mainichi, the national daily of Japan, Qureshi, a businessman from Pakistan, helps the homeless and those foreigners who have been detained by immigration authorities after failing to get refugee status.

    He is also involved in the running of a mosque in Tokyo, Otsuka Masjid.

    According to the Japanese daily, Qureshi’s efforts started just when he arrived in Tokyo to study computer programming in 1991. He began distributing food to the homeless in his neighbourhood in the capital’s Kita Ward.

    “Now, three decades on, he has enlisted Japanese university students in his goodwill endeavours, seeing their involvement as a vital part of raising society’s awareness of the plight of the less fortunate,” it said.

    Read More: Study reveals Pakistanis prayed for India during Covid-19 crisis

    The 55-year-old Qureishi said he believed there was a lack of understanding in Japan of why people ended up on the streets. He thinks the public’s attitude to the homeless is “cold.”

    “The reality is that many times the homeless suffer from mental health issues and cannot fit into society,” the daily quoted him as saying.

    So far, Qureshi had asked for students from Tokyo-based Keio and Tokyo universities to volunteer in his activities, which included serving meals to the needy.

    In collaboration with Tenohasi in Tokyo’s Ikebukuro area, students and volunteers from the mosque recently helped in providing food to over 360 people.

    “Today I witnessed a stark difference between normal people who were walking on the streets all dressed up, and those who had come to get food here,” the daily quoted Satoru Soejima, 18, who is studying Arabic at Keio University, as saying.

    Qureshi, meanwhile, also leads another project called Food Bank to help the students themselves, some of whom have gone hungry after losing part-time work because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    A soft-spoken man, he has also been helping those detained after their failed asylum bids since around 2000.

    In one month, Qureshi received around 30 letters on average seeking help from detainees, mostly from countries in Africa or elsewhere in Asia.

    “We may have different religions, colour or race. But I request everyone to try and feel the pain of other members of this huge (human) family, and do what they can,” he urged.

    In recognition of his services the Pakistan Embassy in Japan awarded him with a letter of appreciation.

    Ambassador Imtiaz Ahmad invited three extraordinary Pakistanis living in Japan for their social work that has also been highlighted in the Japanese media, including Qureshi.

    According to the embassy, Qureshi was appreciated for his services that include providing food for the needy, financial help for the destitute and homeless, running an Islamic school and managing a graveyard for the Muslims.

    The ambassador appreciated Qureshi’s work while stating that it has contributed positively to Pakistan and Pakistanis’ image living in Japan.

    Qureshi thanked the Ambassador for the appreciation and vowed to continue and expand his humanitarian work, the embassy said.

  • Lost in Lahore

    Lost in Lahore