How Pakistan’s Imran Khan is losing a remittance war against the government

Islamabad, Pakistan – In December last year, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan issued an unlikely threat to the country’s government: After spending more than 15 months behind bars on what he called “politically motivated charges” and following multiple failed protests, he warned that he would launch a civil disobedience movement.

“As part of the movement, we will urge overseas Pakistanis to limit remittances and start a boycott campaign,” read a message posted on his account on X.

With a precariously balanced economy, with the country seeking new loans and debt rollovers from key allies such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and China, turning off the valve of remittances from overseas Pakistanis could, in theory, bring the government to its knees.

Heeding that call, 28-year-old Muhammad Waseem, a devoted supporter of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party who works in Doha, Qatar, telephoned his family in Punjab, Pakistan, to tell them he would be temporarily halting the monthly instalments of cash he was sending them since moving to the Middle East last August.

“I was sending close to 4,000 Qatari riyals [300,000 Pakistani rupees or $1,096] every month to support my family, but as soon as I heard what Imran Khan said, I informed them that I wouldn’t be sending money,” Waseem told media.

Waseem, a barber by profession, said he planned to save the money and rely on his elder brothers, who run a dairy business in Rahim Yar Khan, a city in southern Punjab, to support the family for some time.

“But I think I’ll have to resume sending them some money next month because my brothers have asked me to help out,” he added, though he said he planned to send less money than he used to.

Waseem is far from alone in his unwillingness to stop sending money back home, despite his initial enthusiasm.

Khan, who was Pakistan’s prime minister from August 2018 until April 2022, when he was deposed through a parliamentary vote of no confidence, is known to enjoy wide support among the country’s diaspora, from the Middle East to North America.