Pakistan’s emigration law still descends from a British colonial act of 1837

Evidence

The current emigration codes of Pakistan are drawn from the Indian Emigration Act of 1837, which was framed by the British. Many of the protections instituted in that code were designed to facilitate labor migration. Although the Pakistani Emigration Act was updated in 1979, it is generally used as the last resort in state mediation of labor problems. The rights of labor migrants are invoked only when specific complaints are lodged—and, more important, when the state regards a case as reasonably significant. The major target of regulation and policing under the act is not labor migration but local counterfeiting, drug tra≈cking, and smuggling. — Junaid Rana, Terrifying Muslims, 683

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: how much contemporary Pakistani emigration law still reflects 1837 British colonial framings, and whether this is typical of former colonies’ labor codes.