ISLAMABAD: Pakistan noticed a day of mourning Monday for over 300 of its nationals who drowned final week after an overcrowded migrant boat sank off Greece on option to Italy illegally.
About 750 folks had been crammed into the fishing trawler when it capsized on June 14, the Worldwide Organisation for Migration (IOM) stated, killing a whole bunch and making the tragedy one of many Mediterranean Sea’s worst.
At the very least 400 Pakistanis, 200 Egyptians and 150 Syrians — together with round two dozen Syrian girls and younger kids — had been on the trawler, based on info shared by survivors of the shipwreck.
The authorities haven’t but confirmed the precise variety of Pakistanis however claimed many had been from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Within the midst of its worst financial disaster in many years, Pakistanis are leaving their nation in droves, many taking perilous, unlawful routes to Europe. Household sources stated most trawler victims had paid (Pak) Rs 2.5 million ($9,000) to safe their passage to Italy.
Pakistani authorities have arrested 14 folks in reference to the alleged trafficking. “We have now arrested 10 suspects who’re a part of a human trafficking community that despatched these folks to Europe. We’re trying to find extra,” Reuters quoted senior regional police officer Tahir Mahmood Qureshi as saying. An extra 4 folks had been arrested in Punjab province, a senior official at Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Company (FIA) stated.
The Pakistani survivors have blamed Greek coastguards, saying the vessel had been intentionally left to sink. At the very least 12 of them have narrated harrowing tales from a reduction camp in Greece.
Considered one of them, Usman, advised his household again residence that the boat had run out of recent water and had been drifting for 5 days. “A cargo ship dropped some bottles of water after appeals,” his household stated, including the trawler began to crumble after a smaller boat tried to tow it in an try at rescue.
They recounted that the vessel’s engine had damaged down, leaving them caught for nearly per week. They additional alleged that the Greek authorities didn’t assist regardless of the presence of two-speed boats, a cargo boat and a ship on the website.
The Greek authorities have, nonetheless, insisted that the boat was heading in the right direction to Italy and didn’t want rescuing.
Final 12 months, greater than 800,000 Pakistanis left the nation in quest of higher financial prospects overseas. With rocketing inflation and the rupee devaluation by over 35%, thousands and thousands of city middle-class folks have been pushed to the brink of poverty, forcing them to go away.
About 750 folks had been crammed into the fishing trawler when it capsized on June 14, the Worldwide Organisation for Migration (IOM) stated, killing a whole bunch and making the tragedy one of many Mediterranean Sea’s worst.
At the very least 400 Pakistanis, 200 Egyptians and 150 Syrians — together with round two dozen Syrian girls and younger kids — had been on the trawler, based on info shared by survivors of the shipwreck.
The authorities haven’t but confirmed the precise variety of Pakistanis however claimed many had been from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Within the midst of its worst financial disaster in many years, Pakistanis are leaving their nation in droves, many taking perilous, unlawful routes to Europe. Household sources stated most trawler victims had paid (Pak) Rs 2.5 million ($9,000) to safe their passage to Italy.
Pakistani authorities have arrested 14 folks in reference to the alleged trafficking. “We have now arrested 10 suspects who’re a part of a human trafficking community that despatched these folks to Europe. We’re trying to find extra,” Reuters quoted senior regional police officer Tahir Mahmood Qureshi as saying. An extra 4 folks had been arrested in Punjab province, a senior official at Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Company (FIA) stated.
The Pakistani survivors have blamed Greek coastguards, saying the vessel had been intentionally left to sink. At the very least 12 of them have narrated harrowing tales from a reduction camp in Greece.
Considered one of them, Usman, advised his household again residence that the boat had run out of recent water and had been drifting for 5 days. “A cargo ship dropped some bottles of water after appeals,” his household stated, including the trawler began to crumble after a smaller boat tried to tow it in an try at rescue.
They recounted that the vessel’s engine had damaged down, leaving them caught for nearly per week. They additional alleged that the Greek authorities didn’t assist regardless of the presence of two-speed boats, a cargo boat and a ship on the website.
The Greek authorities have, nonetheless, insisted that the boat was heading in the right direction to Italy and didn’t want rescuing.
Final 12 months, greater than 800,000 Pakistanis left the nation in quest of higher financial prospects overseas. With rocketing inflation and the rupee devaluation by over 35%, thousands and thousands of city middle-class folks have been pushed to the brink of poverty, forcing them to go away.
