Key Points
- At least 5 killed when a migrant boat capsized off the Greek island of Gavdos on Friday.
- Pakistan PM orders the Interior Minister to submit inquiry report on the tragic incident.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday vowed stern action against human traffickers after at least five people died when a boat of illegal migrants, including Pakistanis, capsized off the Greece’s southern island of Gavdos.
“Such persons should be identified and they should be handed strict punishments so that they do not repeat such heinous crimes again,” Sharif said in a statement shared by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“Concrete steps should be taken to prevent such incidents from happening in future,” he added.
Sharif directed the Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to submit an inquiry report on the matter.
“Human trafficking is a heinous crime due to which many lives are lost and many houses are destroyed every year,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressing his concern over the tragedy, directed a thorough investigation in this regard. He strongly condemned human trafficking, calling it an intolerable crime that has destroyed many families.
He urged the Federal Investigation Agency to take nationwide, unbiased action against the trafficking mafias involved in these illegal activities.
So far 39 men most of them from Pakistan — have been rescued by cargo ships sailing in the area. The coast guard said these have been shifted to the island of Crete, adding that the number of those missing had not yet been confirmed.
Coast Guard boats, merchant boats, an Italian frigate and naval aircraft have been searching the area since Greek authorities were alerted about the tragic incident on Friday night.
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In separate incidents on Saturday, a Malta-flagged cargo ship rescued 47 migrants from a boat sailing about 40 nautical miles off Gavdos, while a tanker rescued another 88 migrants some 28 nautical miles off the tiny island in Greece’s south.
According to initial information, coast guard officials believe the boats left together from Libya.
Greece was a favored gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia in 2015-2016, when nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, mostly via inflatable dinghies.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever in the Mediterranean Sea.
Only 104 people, including 12 Pakistanis, were rescued and 82 bodies were recovered after the incident.
The incident prompted Pakistani authorities to launch a nationwide crackdown against human smugglers.
