Pakistani freelancer talks about his ordeal after losing job due to FATF

ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani freelancer lost his contract with an international firm due to the looming crisis that stemmed out of grey-listing of Pakistan by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Wasim Wazir was associated with US firm Nervealign and used company's merchandise account as part of his professional routine, however, he was informed a few days ago by the firm that the said account could not be operated within the territory of Pakistan.

Revealing the details, Wazir told Daily Pakistan that he got associated with the firm just 2 months ago and was performing his duties when he was told about termination of his contract as Pakistan had been grey-listed by the fiscal watchdog.

Though Pakistan was grey-listed last year, the implications of such a development are coming to the fore now with Wasim facing the brunt besides as many as 1.1 million freelancers likely to face the risk.

The freelancer added that he was paid for the services he rendered to the US firm, however, the contract now stands suspended.

"I can't even utilize VPN to use the merchandise account as banks detect suspicious transactions and US firm does not allow such a tweak," he added.

https://twitter.com/Wasim_Wazir/status/1133415570894934017

The Islamabad-based freelancer told this correspondent that the only solution to the problem is to relocate to another country which according to him was not feasible.

"It's not about my personal gains as I am raising my voice for a community," he shared.

FATF is set to review the policies adopted by Pakistan after the grey-listing for curbing money laundering and terror financing. The body would issue a final verdict next month whether to wipe off Pakistan from the grey-list or to further downgrade it to the countries included in the black-list.

In the meantime, Wasim and many others are at risk of unemployment despite contributing a hefty amount to the national exchequer every year.