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Pakistan has declared a national day of mourning for those who died when a fishing trawler packed with people sank off the coast of Greece.
Up to 750 people, including women and children, mostly from Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, and Palestinian territories were on board the vessel trying to reach Europe.
More than 500 people are presumed to have drowned when the vessel sank on June 14 near Pylos, Greece. Local media reports that at least 298 Pakistanis died in the incident. A majority of the victims – 135 to be exact – hailed from Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
To date 104 survivors have been rescued and 78 bodies have been recovered. The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that 12 Pakistanis were among the survivors. No survivors or bodies have been found since the day of the accident.
Day of mourning
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a countrywide day of mourning over the tragic incident of the boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece
According to a notification issued by the Prime Minister Office, the national flag will fly at half-mast at all the important buildings and special prayers will be offered for the victims.
The prime minister has constituted a four-member high-level committee to investigate the tragic incident of boat capsizing off Greece’s coast.
The committee headed by National Police Bureau Director General Ehsan Sadiq will submit a report with a week to ascertain facts of the Greece boat tragedy, identity loopholes and lapses in the legal and enforcement mechanism in Pakistan that exposed precious human lives to human trafficking.
The prime minister has directed the authorities concerned to tighten the noose around the elements involved in luring people into dangerous businesses such as trafficking.
He also ordered an immediate crackdown against the agents involved in the heinous crime and punish them in a befitting manner. He also directed the Pakistani Embassy in Greece to take care of the 12 Pakistanis who had been rescued in the incident.
Crackdown on human traffickers
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a crackdown against agents involved in human trafficking and luring young men to the dangerous journey.
The agency claimed to have arrested a key human trafficker involved in sending people abroad in Sheikhupura, Punjab. He had received Rs6.5 million from a resident of Farooqabad.
At least 10 alleged human traffickers have been arrested in Azad Jammu in Gujrat. It has been reported that agency involved in human trafficking are present in different districts of Punjab including Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sahiwal.
Pakistan were singled out
Pakistanis on board the fishing boat that capsized and sank off Peloponnese in southern Greece may have been singled out and forced below deck, with hundreds of passengers feared dead, international media reported.
According to a report published by a British daily, survivor accounts to Greek coastguards suggest that passengers on the vessel were divided by nationality, with Pakistanis as well as women and children forced below deck into the hold.
The report, quoting leaked testimonies of survivors, stated that Pakistanis were forced below deck, with other nationalities allowed on the top deck, where they had a far greater chance of surviving a capsize.
It said the the testimonies suggest women and children were effectively locked up in the hold, ostensibly to be protected by men on the overcrowded vessel.
The survivors said Pakistani nationals were mistreated by crew members when they appeared from below deck in search of fresh water or tried to escape. The conditions on the boat were so bleak that even before it sank there had already been six deaths after it ran out of fresh water.
Greek cover-up
There are questions raised over whether the Greek coastguard covered up its role in the tragedy. The Greek government said no request for help was sent from the vessel because passengers had set Italy as their ideal destination.
It has been reported that some passengers on board the boat had begged to be rescued, though it is unclear whether their requests were forwarded by the crew to the Greek coastguard.
Another controversy centers around the use of a rope to stabilise the vessel by the Greek coastguard, with allegations that it had led to the capsizing by shifting weight.
The coastguard initially denied that it had used the rope, saying it kept a distance from the boat, but a government spokesman later retracted the claim.
The UN human rights Office said that up to 500 people are still missing from the migrant boat. A total of 104 passengers were rescued and sent to Kalamata, Greece.
The people rescued so far included 43 Egyptian nationals, 47 Syrian nationals, 12 Pakistani nationals, and two Palestinians, the Hellenic Coast Guard said. Eight of those rescued were minors.
The political turmoil and economic crisis drives tens of thousands of Pakistanis to leave the country. Young men, primarily from eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, often use a route through Iran, Libya, Turkey and Greece to enter Europe illegally.
