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19-06-2023
Bureau Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan authorities have arrested 10 alleged human traffickers after it emerged that many of the dozens of migrants and refugees who drowned off the coast of Greece were from the South Asian nation currently in the midst of an unprecedented economic and political crisis, officials said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also ordered an immediate crackdown on agents engaged in people smuggling, saying they would be “severely punished”.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested the suspected human traffickers from different parts of the Islamabad-controlled part of Kashmir also known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir and another from Karachi airport, who was trying to flee abroad, local media reported.
Every year, thousands of young Pakistanis embark on perilous journeys attempting to enter Europe without proper documents in search of a better life.
Reports indicate there were at least dozens of Pakistanis onboard the trawler that sank off Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula on Wednesday, killing at least 78 people with hundreds more missing.
Young men, primarily from eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, often use a route through Iran, Libya, Turkey, and Greece to enter Europe.
Local media published estimates that 298 Pakistanis might have died in the Greek boat disaster, 135 from the Pakistani side of Kashmir. Other reports suggested there were about 400 Pakistani nationals onboard. Media could not independently verify these numbers.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 12 nationals had survived, but they had no information on how many were onboard the boat.
An immigration official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the figure could surpass 200.
In a joint statement, the International Organization for Migration and UN Refugee Agency said between 400 to 750 people in total were believed to be aboard the ferry.
