Global Courant
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday declared a day of mourning for Pakistanis who died after a fishing boat full of migrants capsized off the coast of Greece last week, and ordered a crackdown on those involved in trafficking Pakistanis to Europe.
Greek authorities have recovered more than 80 bodies in the aftermath of the wreck, but they acknowledge that the real toll from Wednesday’s disaster, when the boat sank in one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean, appears to be in the hundreds . That would make the tragedy the deadliest of its kind.
At least 104 Pakistanis have been killed, according to Pakistani police, although officials expect the toll of the disaster to rise. Many of the missing came from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the region long disputed between India and Pakistan, and nearby Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province.
So said Mr Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Twitter on Sunday that law enforcement agencies had been asked “to tighten the noose around individuals involved in the heinous act of human trafficking”. He also announced a commission to investigate human trafficking networks.
Since Sunday, Pakistani authorities have arrested at least 15 people they accused of involvement in the trafficking of several drowned migrants, according to Pakistani authorities.
At least one of those arrested has been accused of charging migrants about 2.3 million Pakistani rupees — about $8,000 — to enter Europe illegally, police said.
Although Punjab province has long been a hub of human trafficking, the number of people wanting to leave the province has increased in recent years due to the deteriorating economy.
The rising cost of living, rising inflation and rampant unemployment have forced many people in the region to migrate abroad – including illegally – in search of work, locals say.
The ship that capsized was an approximately 25 to 30 meter long fishing boat, the Adriana, which had left eastern Libya last week bound for Italy. The wreck had over 100 known survivors, some of whom estimated the number of people on board at 750, including many women and children below decks; authorities in Greece have said they believe this number is exaggerated.
Greece has questioned whether it could have done more to save the ship, which was in international waters but within the Greek search and rescue zone. Officials there have said they offered to help several times but were turned down.
Greek officials last week arrested nine Egyptian men who survived the sinking, accusing them of causing the wreck and illegally transferring migrants.
During a parliamentary session on Monday, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif accused the Greek authorities of not doing enough to rescue those on board.
He also called for tougher laws and tougher penalties against human trafficking networks in Pakistan.
Nearly 3,800 migrants died on routes in and out of the Middle East and North Africa last year, according to the International Organization for Migration, an agency of the United Nations. This year is on track to get worse. The Central Mediterranean had its deadliest first quarter since 2017, the agency said.
Jason Horowitz and Niki Kitsantonis contributed reporting.
