It has become the background score of our lives. Every second notification on our social feeds is a farewell post at an international airport.
Whether it is a childhood friend heading to London or a brilliant cousin boarding a flight to Paris, the departure gates at our airports are busier than our lecture halls.
In 2025 alone, 763,526 of our youth packed their dreams into suitcases and left. Undoubtedly, it is a heart-wrenching episode.
To see the brightest minds of a country believe that their soil can no longer nurture their seeds is a tragedy.
For decades, we have viewed this through a single, dark lens: Brain Drain. (Interestingly, the term was originally coined in the UK in the 1960s to describe scientists leaving for North America) We see it as a permanent loss, a “fiscal robbery” where Pakistan pays for the education, and the West reaps the taxes.
But as we stand at this crossroads, we must ask a thought-provoking question: Is the brain drain always negative? Our youth are often inspired by the lifestyle they see on digital screens.
The clean streets, the purchasing power, and the systemic ease often inspires them. However, they are rarely counselled on the hardships. They see the destination but ignore the climb.
Many of our bright sparks leave for a better life only to face Brain Waste, where a MS degree holder ends up driving a cab in a foreign city just to survive.
What our students need is not just a passport; they need holistic counselling. They need to understand that financial stability is a pursuit, not a gift.
They need an environment where merit is not strangled by nepotism. Yet, if the environment at home remains stagnant, can we truly blame the phoenix for seeking a new sky? If we shift our perspective, we see that migration can be “Brain Circulation”.
Think of Dr Muhammad Yunus, who studied abroad only to return and lift millions out of poverty in Bangladesh. Or look at Pakistan’s own Mudassir Sheikha or Dr Umar Saif.
They did not just drain away; they went abroad to download the world’s most advanced systems and uploaded them back into Pakistan’s economy via startups like Careem and tech incubators like Plan9.
The 750,000 who left in 2025 are not lost; they are Pakistan’s Global Brain Reserve. They are becoming the scientists, inventors, and investors of tomorrow who will eventually look back at their roots.
However, this “Brain Gain” only happens if we do not let the love for the country fade away. We must realize that a country is not just a piece of land; it is a collective soul.
If every person who can fix the system leaves the system, the system remains broken forever. To the youth who have left: Your physical absence should not mean an emotional exit.
Pakistan needs your remittances, yes, but it needs your intellect more. Whether through digital mentorship, remote investments, or eventually returning to build a school or a clinic, the umbilical cord to your motherland must remain intact.
For Pakistan to grow, the state must transition from a landlord to a nurturer. We need to provide the stability that makes staying a viable ambition, not a sign of failure. We must build a nation that is worth coming back to.
The flight of our youth is painful, but it is not the end. If we can bridge the gap between our diaspora and our local potential, this “drain” can become the very flood of innovation that finally washes away our crises.
Let the phoenix fly, but let it always remember the nest that gave it wings.
