PAKISTAN authorities arrested 14 alleged human traffickers last Sunday (18), days after hundreds of migrants were feared drowned off the Greek coast.
Every year, thousands of young Pakistanis embark on perilous journeys attempting to enter Europe illegally in search of a better life.
Local media said as many as 300 Pakistanis had died after a rusty trawler sank near Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula last Wednesday (14).
Officials said nine people had been detained in Pakistan-administered Kashmir – home to a majority of the victims – and one in Gujrat, a city that has long served as a springboard for migrants. “They are presently under investigation for their involvement in facilitating the entire process,” said Chaudhary Shaukat, a local official from Pakistanadministered Kashmir.
Between 400 to 750 people were believed to be aboard the boat, according to a joint statement from the International Organisation for Migration and UN Refugee Agency.
However, according to an initial investigation by police in Pakistan, the boat was carrying around 800 people.
Monday (19) was declared a national day of mourning while prime minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate crackdown on agents engaged in people smuggling, saying they would be “severely punished”.
“The prime minister has given a firm directive to intensify efforts in combating individuals involved in the heinous crime of human trafficking,” his office said in a statement.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families who lost their loved ones,” he added. National flags were at halfmast on all official buildings on Monday (19) in Pakistan.
A police report said one of those arrested had admitted to sending three men onto the boat, which had a capacity for 300-350 people, and had charged them each up to three million Pakistani rupees ($10,452.96).
Police officer Riaz Mughal said, “We learnt from two survivors, the arrested suspects and the be[1]reaved families that the boat was carrying around 750-800 people.” One of the suspects arrested in Pakistan said his own son had been on the boat, and was missing, the report said.
It also said the main suspect behind a smuggling network spanning Libya, Pakistan and Greece, was based in Libya. Mughal said at least 21 of those who died last week came from the Kotli district in the Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Senior regional police officer Tahir Mahmood, based in Muzaffarabad, Kashmir’s capital, said the police were hunting further suspects in addition to those arrested. The officer did not specify how many.
Greek authorities said 104 survivors and 78 bodies of the dead were brought ashore in the immediate aftermath.
Hopes were fading of finding any more people alive.
Most of the people on board the capsized boat were from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, Greek government officials have said. A combination of political turmoil and an economy on the brink of collapse drives tens of thousands of Pakistanis to leave the country – legally and illegally. (Agencies)
