At least 350 Pakistanis were on board an overloaded boat that sank in the open sea off Greece last week, Pakistan’s interior minister said, vowing to arrest and prosecute the traffickers responsible, reports RTE.
More than 700 people were on board the 400-person fishing boat when it sank on June 14, Rana Sanaullah told the country’s parliament, adding that a total of 281 Pakistani families had contacted the government to seek help.
He said another 193 Pakistani families had undergone DNA tests to identify those who died in Europe’s deadliest shipping disaster in recent years.
Hundreds of people from countries including Egypt, Syria and Pakistan crowded into the 20- to 30-meter-long fishing boat when it sank about 80 kilometres off the southern Greek town of Pylos.
Pakistan’s economic downturn in recent months has prompted more people to reach Europe in search of a life-threatening future.
Pakistan said it had arrested several human traffickers and their agents who told authorities their ring leaders were based in Libya.
These human traffickers charged a man about $8,000 to take them illegally by sea to Europe after legally flying to Dubai, Egypt or Libya, authorities said.
A high-level investigation is underway to identify and arrest those involved in human smuggling, Mr. Sanaullah said, adding that Pakistan is also working to plug loopholes in such cases and recommend amendments to the law to convict, reports RTE.
Not a single human trafficker has been convicted in more than five years, he said, citing data, mostly due to victims’ families agreeing to pardons in exchange for money.
The death toll from the tragedy stands at 82, with 104 pulled from the water, but eyewitness accounts suggest hundreds more went down with the ship, their remains still missing at sea.
“We should at least get the dead bodies so that the parents and relatives can get peace of mind,” said Zafar Iqbal, 55, who reported losing two nephews in the incident, reports RTE.
Locals in Punjab and Pakistan-administered Kashmir host a thriving black market of “agents”, human smugglers who arrange illegal immigration to Europe for a hefty fee.
An official of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency in Islamabad said that “so far 25 agents have been arrested”, reports RTE.
“Raids are being conducted against the human traffickers and the investigation is ongoing,” the official said, reports RTE.
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