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Italy Pledges 10,500 Work Visas for Pakistanis as EU Partners Back ‘Legal Pathways’

The initiative seeks to channel mobility through regulated jobs to undercut human smuggling.

Overview

  • Italy signaled willingness to grant visa-free entry to Pakistani diplomatic passport holders at Pakistan’s request.
  • Italy, Spain and Greece endorsed Pakistan’s proposal for regulated legal pathways, with the EU set to bolster Pakistan’s capacity-building; ministers cited a 47% decline in illegal departures from Pakistan.
  • Pakistan and Greece agreed to finalise a long-pending Migration Cooperation Agreement, increase work visas and create a Joint Working Group to operationalise cooperation.
  • The participating ministers adopted a coordinated framework that includes intelligence sharing, a rapid response mechanism and repatriation of serious offenders, with the next meeting planned in Pakistan later this year.
  • In follow-up talks in Warsaw, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland agreed to appoint focal persons and develop a shared roadmap to curb irregular migration while supporting legal channels.