Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has again raised concerns about senior government officials who, according to a new report, are planning to settle abroad while still holding important positions at home — with Portugal named as a favoured destination for themselves and their families.
The report, written by Paul Antonopoulos in the Greek City Times and carried by several outlets on Monday evening, says officials occupying key positions are looking at Portugal and other Western nations for opportunities and security for their families. The criticism has drawn attention because it comes from within the governing establishment itself: Asif is accusing serving officials, not the opposition, of planning their futures overseas while asking the public to have confidence in Pakistan's future.
According to the report, the issue goes beyond officials moving abroad after retirement. It also covers families preparing to build lives elsewhere through overseas education, residency and eventual settlement. Pakistan's own disclosure rules make this a matter of record in one respect: the Establishment Division's asset declaration form requires officials to give details of their children's education, both in Pakistan and abroad, along with relevant family assets and expenses. Those requirements, however, do not by themselves establish how many officials have sent children abroad, or whether they intend to settle overseas.
Asif has not named any specific individuals in connection with the latest report, and the reports published on Monday carry no documentary evidence identifying particular officials. The minister has raised this theme before. In a post on X on 18 October, he claimed that numerous bureaucrats had deliberately planned to settle overseas while employed by the Government of Pakistan, establishing permanent homes in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and other European countries, with Portugal emerging as a particularly favoured destination. He also questioned whether such officials remained fully committed to their jobs, asking whether they were "merely in transit". That earlier controversy dates back to August 2025, when Asif alleged that more than half of Pakistan's bureaucracy had acquired property in Portugal and was seeking citizenship; the Public Accounts Committee subsequently sought information from government agencies, including the Ministry of Interior, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Federal Board of Revenue, but the accuracy of those claims was not established.
The debate sits against a wider migration trend. In October, Overseas Pakistanis Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain told the National Assembly that more than 1.8 million highly educated and professional people had left Pakistan over the previous three years, according to Pakistan Today. That figure covers skilled professionals generally, not the serving officials named in the latest report, and the two should not be confused.
For now, the report remains an allegation reported in the press rather than a verified list of names or cases. What is established is the minister's public criticism, the disclosure rules that already track officials' family education and assets, and a broader national conversation about why so many of Pakistan's skilled people — and, if the report is right, some of its serving officials — are looking abroad for their future.
Pakistan ke Wazeer-e-Difa Khawaja Asif ne dobara is baat par tashweesh zahir ki hai ke ahem ohdon par faiz sarkari ahalkar, aik nayi report ke mutabiq, abhi ohday par rehte hue bahar mulk settle hone ki tayyari kar rahe hain — aur un ke aur un ke khandanon ke liye Portugal aik pasandeeda manzil batayi gayi hai.
Ye report Greek City Times mein Paul Antonopoulos ne likhi hai aur peer ki shaam kayi akhbaron ne shaya ki. Is ke mutabiq ahem ohdon par faiz ahalkar Portugal aur doosre maghribi mumalik mein apne aur apne khandanon ke liye mauqay aur mehfooz mustaqbil dhoond rahe hain. Ye tanqeed is liye khaas tawajjo ki haqdar hai ke ye hukoomati ittehad ke andar se aa rahi hai: Asif opposition par nahi, balkay khidmat mein mojood ahalkaron par ilzaam laga rahe hain ke wo awam se Pakistan ke mustaqbil par bharosa rakhne ko kehte hue khud bahar mustaqbil ki tayyari kar rahe hain.
Report ke mutabiq ye muamla sirf retirement ke baad bahar jane ka nahi. Is mein khandanon ka bahar taleem, rehaish aur aakhirkar mustaqil qiyam ki tayyari bhi shamil hai. Pakistan ke apne disclosure qawaid is pehlu ko record ka hissa banate hain: Establishment Division ke asset declaration form mein ahalkaron ko apne bachon ki taleem — Pakistan mein ho ya bahar — aur mutaliqa khandani asaason aur akhrajaat ki tafseel deni hoti hai. Lekin ye qawaid apne aap ye sabit nahi karte ke kitne ahalkaron ne bachay bahar bhejay, ya wo waqai bahar settle hona chahte hain.
Taaza report ke silsilay mein Asif ne kisi makhsoos shakhs ka naam nahi liya, aur peer ko shaya hone wali reporton mein kisi makhsoos ahalkar ki shanakht ke liye koi dastawezi saboot nahi diya gaya. Wazeer is mauzu ko pehle bhi utha chuke hain. 18 October ko X par aik post mein unhon ne daawa kiya tha ke kayi bureaucrats ne Hukumat-e-Pakistan mein mulazmat ke dauran jaan-boojh kar bahar settle hone ki mansooba-bandi ki, aur Canada, America, Britain aur doosre European mumalik mein mustaqil ghar banaye, jin mein Portugal khaas tor par pasandeeda hai. Unhon ne ye sawal bhi uthaya tha ke kya aise ahalkar apni mulazmat se poori tarah mukhlis hain, ya wo "sirf guzar rahe hain". Ye tanaza August 2025 se chala aa raha hai, jab Asif ne ilzaam lagaya tha ke Pakistan ki bureaucracy ke aadhe se zyada afraad ne Portugal mein jayedad khareedi hai aur citizenship ke khwahishmand hain; Public Accounts Committee ne is ke baad Wazarat-e-Dakhla, State Bank of Pakistan aur Federal Board of Revenue se maloomat mangi thi, lekin un daawon ki durusti sabit nahi hui.
Ye behas aik wasee tar hijrat ke rujhan ke tanazur mein ho rahi hai. October mein Overseas Pakistanis ke Wazeer Chaudhry Salik Hussain ne Qaumi Assembly ko bataya tha ke guzishta teen saal mein 18 lakh se zyada aala taleem-yafta aur professional afraad Pakistan chhor kar bahar chalay gaye, Pakistan Today ke mutabiq. Ye tadaad aam hunar-mand professionals ki hai, taaza report mein zikr honay walay khidmat mein mojood ahalkaron ki nahi, aur dono ko milana durust nahi ho ga.
Filhaal ye report aik press mein shaya honay wala ilzaam hai, na ke naamon ya cases ki tasdeeq-shuda fehrist. Jo baat sabit hai wo ye hai: wazeer ki awami tanqeed, ahalkaron ke khandani taleem aur asaason ki tafseel mangne wale disclosure qawaid, aur aik wasee qaumi guftagu ke Pakistan ke hunar-mand log — aur agar report durust hai to kuch khidmat mein mojood ahalkar bhi — apna mustaqbil bahar kyun dhoond rahe hain.
Sources: Greek City Times (Paul Antonopoulos), via IANS syndication carried by Mathrubhumi English, The Times of India and The Hawk (2 November 2026); Moneycontrol, "'Merely in transit?': Khawaja Asif flags Pakistan bureaucrats' plans to settle abroad while in office" (21 October 2026, covering Asif's 18 October X post and the August 2025 controversy); Pakistan Today, via the October 2026 National Assembly disclosure by Overseas Pakistanis Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain.
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