In-Country Experts - British Expat Forum

Hi,

I'm new to this community and would love to hear your views and recommendations for a white female thinking of moving to Karachi. I have heard numerous good and bad things about Karachi and Pakistan from a small number of Pakistanis but wondered if there is a British point of view out there...

I have a few concerns about the current media frenzie on terrorism and wonder if there are any real safety concerns for british females in Karachi. I also wondered more on the differences in the two cultured and how easy it would be to get a job there.

If anyone has any comments, recommendations, etc. that might be useful I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks,

Mbrolass.

Hi -

I'm not sure whether you've decided to do this yet or not. I'm a white westerner (not british) heading to Karachi in a few days. If you are still interested in information I may be able to provide some from a white person's perspective after getting there. (not to say that race per se is important, but obviously will stand out more being white rather than of different ancestry).

That would be great, it'll be useful to get the point of view of a westener in Karachi. All the things I've heard so far are really positive, from a pakistani point of view.

Hi there
I just wanted to tell you about my experience in Karachi. I visited there shortly before the bombing outside the American Embassy, so it would have been about Jan/Feb 2006 that I paid a visit.
When we arrived at the airport, because of my colour, we were targeted by the people who wanted to carry our bags etc, but luckily my husband was able to speak the language and shooed them away, because most of them will try to charge you a lot of money, even though they work for the airport and presumably get a wage anyway for working there. Mind you, the wages in Karachi are really low so I reckon that people must absolutely rely on tips.
Because my husband's relatives are from Karachi, I was lucky enough to have the experience of staying in a family home, but in a somewhat 'downtown' area. i.e the area was not really a good one. However, due to the fact that I was with family, I was treated well by the locals. I tried to make myself inconspicuous by adopting traditional asian dress, but I found that people would still stare at me. I would experience whole families coming up to me in shops, and they would stand barely inches from my face and stare at me like I was some kind of alien! This never stopped the whole time that I was in Karachi- there was no let up- I was always stared at wherever I went. Also the men stared in a very obvious way too which my mother-in-law found extremely offensive.
I definitely stood out and I would not even have attempted to walk down the street on my own. If I had not had my relatives looking after me, then I would have been targeted much more than I was, by all manner of beggars and conmen etc. The roads are a nightmare, just dust bowls with no lane markings or tarmac or ettiqutte, unless you are right in central Karachi where you will find these things to some extent on some roads.
Even a high class area such as Clifton, looked like a building site in some places with rubble all over the place and armed guards outside people's houses. In the streets of Karachi there were guards with guns outside the jewellers. I also witnessed a man armed with a revolver in the streets where I was living. He fired his gun into the air above a crowd of people.
I really enjoyed my Karachi experience, but I never really felt 100 percent safe there. I also think that now there has been some recent terrorist activity, it is not really safe for a white woman alone. I do not believe that it is a safe place for any westerners at the moment. If you do insist on going there, then you must be very careful.

well you are welcome here and you should not pay any focus abt terrorism as there is no such thing going on over here you can live peacefully over here so dont worry and come to karachi.

faisal sami

Good afternoon,

Living in Pakistan is great now. It is peace out there and If you goanna start living in Islamabad is really cool as the majority of people in here are well educated, established and well traveled as well.

As long as the Karachi is concerned, It is being changed each and every day so be careful a little while living in there, But if you are preffering, DHA (Defence Housing Authority), and/or Clifton are good areas and peaceful. Try not to be out of your accomodation after 10-pm and try to arrange a security guard at home if leaving for days time.

Lahore is cool as Islamabad and always a great city for local and/or for expatriates. But in the areas e.g. Bhatti Gate, Delhi Gate, Mochi Gate, Near the railway station, Lari Adda (Bus Stand), Be careful as being careless may cause some problems e,g. no money in your pocket etc or mobile snatching for example. Preffer Dha, Model Town, Johar town, Bahria town for living in there and are good peaceful areas.

So all you new guys out there (Expatriates), All the best and Good luck!


Luqman

Good afternoon,

To be frank, Karachi is a good city, beautiful one and sun shines every day, But expatriates should be careful while living in there.

So all expatriates. We wishing you prosperous journey to Karachi Pakistan and All the best.

White Lady!. Be safe, Welcome to Pakistan and La costa Cridda Pakistano:) = (We wishing you a safe journey to Paki-land)


Good Luck

Luqman

i moved to pakistan, islamabad almost a year ago, and yes people stare alot actually everyone stares all the time but in my entire time here i havent had any problems with security issues, i have found people are very welcoming, polite and happy to help... i was worried about coming here but found that once i was here that the media portrayed this country quite wrong and im glad i came here