Dr. Muhammad Aslam is a historian and researcher specializing in World History, Middle Eastern Studies, labour migration, and international political economy, with expertise in labour migration from Pakistan to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and its socio-economic and developmental impacts. Dr. Aslam currently serves as a Lecturer in the Department of Islamic Studies and Pakistan Studies at the Virtual University of Pakistan and is a Visiting Associate at the Global Labour Research Centre (GLRC), York University, Canada, https://www.yorku.ca/research/glrc/get-involved/people/associates/visiting/ where his research focuses on labour migration, migration governance. He completed his Ph.D. in World History and Middle East Studies from the School of World History, Northwest University, Xi'an, China, in 2021, under the Chinese Government Scholarship programme. He previously earned an M.A. in Political Science from the University of the Punjab in 2009. From 2007 to 2009, he worked with UNDP Pakistan, gaining professional experience in development-related work. Before joining the Virtual University of Pakistan, Dr. Aslam served as a faculty member at several universities in Punjab between 2016 and 2022, teaching courses in history, political science, international relations, and related disciplines. In 2024–2025, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of History, University of Bern, Switzerland, where he advanced his research on Pakistan–GCC labour migration, remittances, migration governance, and sustainable development. Dr. Aslam has published research on labour migration, the Kafala system, migrant labour, remittances, Pakistan–China relations, digital transformation, and regional geopolitics in international academic journals and has presented his research at academic conferences and research forums in Asia and Europe. His research has also involved archival work at international institutions, including the ILO Archives, IOM Archives, and the Historical Archives of the European Union.

My research lies at the intersection of World History, Middle Eastern Studies, labour migration, migration governance, and development, with a particular focus on the movement of labour between South Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. My broader research agenda examines how migration connects societies across regions and how labour mobility shapes households, communities, institutions, economies, and political relations. I am particularly interested in the historical development of migration systems, the experiences of migrant workers, the governance of international labour mobility, and the relationship between migration, remittances, and development. My doctoral research at Northwest University, Xi’an, focused on “Labor Migration from Pakistan to GCC Countries and its Socio-economic Impacts: A Case Study of Gujranwala District.” Using field surveys and interviews, I examined the historical development of Pakistan–GCC labour migration and the social and economic consequences of migration and remittances for migrant households and communities. The project explored why workers migrate to the Gulf, how Gulf labour markets attract workers from Pakistan, and how migration-generated wealth affects social transformation. My research demonstrated the importance of examining migration not simply as the movement of individuals but as a process that transforms family structures, consumption patterns, education, housing, social mobility, and community life. Following my doctoral research, I expanded my focus from household-level consequences to the broader relationship between labour migration and sustainable development. During my postdoctoral fellowship at the Institute of History, University of Bern (2024–2025), I investigated the limited role of labour migration from Pakistan to GCC countries in sustainable development in Pakistan. This project employs a multidimensional and mixed-methods approach, combining governmental and international data with stakeholder interviews and surveys. It examines why substantial remittance flows have not necessarily produced equivalent levels of productive investment and structural economic transformation. My findings indicate that remittances have contributed to poverty reduction and improved household living standards, but much of the income is directed toward consumption rather than long-term productive investment. The project therefore examines the roles of institutional weaknesses, financial literacy, and public policy in shaping the developmental outcomes of migration. A major strand of my current research concerns migration governance and migrant workers’ rights in the Gulf. I am particularly interested in the Kafala system and the ways in which recruitment practices, sponsorship arrangements, labour-market structures, and state regulation influence migrants’ employment conditions and rights. My recent work, including my 2026 policy brief The Kafala System in the Gulf: Reform, Reality, and Rights of Migrant Workers, https://www.toaep.org/pbs-pdf/204-aslam/ examines the relationship between formal reforms and migrants lived experiences. My publications also address the relationship between remittances and economic dependency, migrant labour and digital transformation, and the historical networks connecting migration and the Indian Ocean world. My research is increasingly situated within a global and comparative history of labour mobility. I seek to place Pakistan–GCC migration within wider South Asian, Middle Eastern, and global migration systems by comparing recruitment regimes, migrant experiences, remittance economies, and migration policies across different regions. This comparative perspective allows me to examine both the common structures and historical differences that shape contemporary labour migration. My interests also extend to the historical relationship between migration, globalization, diplomacy, political economy, and regional transformation. My methodological approach combines historical research, archival research, quantitative analysis, and qualitative fieldwork. My archival research has included the National Archives of Pakistan, ILO and IOM archives in Switzerland, the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence, and the National Archives of Publications and Culture in Xian. I also have experience using SPSS and NVivo for quantitative and qualitative research. My interdisciplinary training in history and political science enables me to connect historical analysis with contemporary questions concerning migration, political economy, international relations, and development. Looking forward, I intend to develop a sustained research programme on South Asian labour migration and the global political economy of migrant labour, with Pakistan GCC migration as a central case. I am particularly interested in three interconnected questions: how migration systems develop historically; how states, employers, recruiters, and international institutions govern migrant labour; and why labour migration produces substantial household-level benefits while often generating more limited structural transformation. I also aim to investigate migrant men, gender relations, recruitment and labour brokerage, migrant rights, remittances, return migration, and the changing nature of labour mobility in an increasingly digital global economy. Through this research agenda, I seek to contribute to global history, South Asian history, Middle Eastern history, migration studies, and the history of labour. My current academic research development from doctoral research on Pakistan GCC migration, through postdoctoral research on migration and sustainable development, to my recent work on Kafala and migrant workers provides a coherent foundation for developing a broader comparative research programme on labour mobility, migration governance, and global social and economic change.