For some reason, Pakistanis believe that they can earn much more in foreign countries than in their home country. Most have relatives abroad who regularly send money to their families, and this reinforces their belief that if they go abroad, they will find good jobs and become wealthy. For this reason, they try to enter Europe illegally and sometime drown in the boats taking them to their destinations.
Not long ago, a sportswoman belonging to the Hazara community died in such an attempt. She needed money for treatment of her son, who was suffering from a rare disease.
In the most recent incident, about three hundred Pakistanis (maybe more) may have perished when their boat sank near Greece. Each of them gave more than two million rupees to agents for going to Europe. I wonder why they needed to go abroad for jobs when they had this kind of money already. If they couldn't find jobs, they could have bought rickshaws or shops in their home towns.
Contrast this with the obscene display of wealth I saw at a wedding dinner last night. Over two thousand men and women had been invited by the Memon host and almost all the guests were Memons. Most of them were talking about what to do with the billions they've accumulated. Some were talking about constructing shopping malls, others were of the opinion that investment in residential properties is preferable, while the rest were talking about transferring their money abroad to buy properties there. Not one of them said anything about setting up new factories (because that would require real hard work). This is the real tragedy of Pakistan, those who are wealthy think that the country has no future.
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