Islamabad: Five Pakistani nationals have been killed and 35 others presumed dead after a boat carrying migrants sank off of Greece’s Gavdos island over the weekend, according to a media report on Thursday.
While at least seven people died and over 150 were rescued from the sinking overcrowded vessel carrying over 200 migrants, dozens remain missing. The Greek authorities on Wednesday called off the rescue operation to find the survivors, including 35 missing Pakistanis, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Pakistani authorities on Tuesday confirmed the death of five people belonging to the Punjab province. The 35 other missing citizens were presumed dead on Wednesday, the report said.
Of the five dead, two belonged to Pasrur, a tehsil of Sialkot; while one each hailed from the Gujrat, Narowal, and Mandi Bahauddin districts.
Meanwhile, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered cases against suspects allegedly involved in transporting the victims from Punjab to Libya from where they were sent off on boats to Greece. The FIA authorities have ‘sealed’ the FIRs purportedly to conceal the identity of local facilitators, the newspaper said, adding that four people have been detained so far in connection with the boat accident.
Against the backdrop of the boat accident, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed stern action against human trafficking and sought a report on such incidents during the last year involving Pakistani citizens.
The prime minister, while presiding over a meeting to discuss the death of Pakistani nationals, recalled that 262 Pakistani nationals had lost their lives in a similar incident in the same area last year and expressed his displeasure over inaction against those responsible for this tragedy.
The premier also instructed the immediate implementation of the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) to monitor international travellers. During the briefing, the prime minister was told that 174 people involved in human trafficking had been produced before courts, with four of them convicted.
Shehbaz sought details on the public awareness campaign on human trafficking and asked the FIA and foreign ministry to furnish a report on the incidents involving Pakistani nationals over the last year. He also stressed the need to enhance collaboration with international institutions to prevent the recurrence of such tragic incidents, according to Dawn.
As per Greece government data, the number of migrants travelling illegally to Greece is expected to top 60,000 this year. The migrant arrivals have increased by up to 35 per cent since fall 2023.–(PTI)
