On April 11, 2025, Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus was ready to welcome around 100,000 to 150,000 specialists from Pakistan along with their families. After that, social media posts began circulating claims that migrants had already started arriving in large numbers. Users also reported incidents of violence involving them. Trying to calm the public, the Belarusian Interior Ministry issued an official statement on April 23:
“Fake and provocative information continues to circulate online about 150,000 Pakistani citizens allegedly entering Belarus. These claims also include allegations that Pakistanis have already committed a number of crimes. In light of this, the Interior Ministry officially states: There is no migration flow from Pakistan, nor are there any crimes committed by citizens of that country!”
The number of labor migrants in Belarus has grown in recent years, but the top groups are Russians, Chinese, Turkmen and Ukrainians. Among the migrants found to have entered the country illegally, Afghans lead the list, followed by Syrians, Iranians and Indians. But it’s not accurate to say there’s no migration from Pakistan at all. In March 2025, the Interior Ministry reported that 23 foreign nationals, including individuals from Pakistan, were discovered in the agrotown of Kolodishchi near Minsk. They had all entered Belarus illegally from Russia, en route to the European Union. All of them were eventually deported. Two similar incidents were recorded in Kolodishchi last year.
It’s also inaccurate to claim that Pakistani citizens haven’t committed any crimes in Belarus. For example, in March 2025, a court in Slutsk fined and sentenced two Pakistanis to prison for extorting money from an Indian citizen, threatening to kill him and using violence.
The idea of bringing in Pakistani citizens for work is also being discussed in Russia. Officials are considering easing visa rules for them. Since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine, Russia has faced a labor shortage.
Pakistan is the world’s seventh-largest source of migrants. According to the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, more than 10 million Pakistanis have officially left the country to work abroad over the past 50 years. Among the reasons: a lack of jobs, low wages, and political and economic instability. In addition, a territorial conflict with India escalated in late April and early May 2025.
