By Riyaz ul Khaliq
ISTANBUL (AA): At least 281 families have reached the Pakistani government over the Greek boat tragedy last week, the nation’s interior minister told the parliament on Friday. Over 300 Pakistani citizens lost their lives, said Rana Sanaulla,
“82 deceased Pakistani victims had been recovered” after they lost their lives in the tragic boat accident off the coast of Greece on June 14, Rana Sanaullah said.
Expressing concern that relatives of 281 families “may have been caught up in this incident,” Sanaullah feared “the toll in the incident may escalate dramatically.”
The 30-meter-long fishing boat capsized and sank early on June 14 about 50 miles from Greece’s southern coastal town of Pylos, which carried around 700 people on board, including Pakistanis, Syrians, and Libyans.
The Pakistani minister said the “boat’s capacity was about 400 passengers, but there were around 700 onboard.”
“Among these, the number of Pakistani passengers on board – as per the information that we have received so far – is approximately 350,” he added.
To identify the Pakistani citizens, according to Dawn News, Sanaullah said 193 DNA samples have been taken from their families across Pakistan.
Speaking in the National Assembly, Rana Sanaullah said as per the information received so far, over 300 citizens lost their lives, more than the number of deaths caused by any single terror attack in the country.
Only 12 among the 104 survivors were from Pakistan.
Almost 99 per cent of Pakistanis who try to enter Europe illegally first travel to Egypt, Libya or the United Arab Emirates on valid visas. “These are the three favourite routes of human smugglers.”
“We are looking at how teenagers between 18 and 22 with no business in those countries are able to easily secure visas which allow them to travel in groups,” the minister added. “The issue was being taken up with these countries to ensure certain standards for visas.”
In a statement on Friday, an FIA spokesperson said the agency’s north zone had arrested 27 human traffickers so far, of which four were captured from Islamabad and the rest from Lahore, Dawn.com reported.
“Seventy cases have been registered against smugglers involved in the Greece boat tragedy,” he stated, elaborating that these FIRs were lodged in Islamabad, Lahore, and Faisalabad.
Additional report from Dawn newspaper
[Photo: Rescued immigrants after a shipwreck a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank in international waters of Ionian Sea, sit inside a warehouse in Kalamata, Greece on June 15, 2023. Photojournalist :Angelos Tzortzinis / Afp / Pool/AA]
