Govt team to depart for Morocco to probe boat-capsizing incident
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A representational image provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard shows migrants onboard a boat during a rescue operation, before their boat capsized on the open sea, off Greece, June 14, 2023. — Reuters
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ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to conduct a high-level inquiry into the tragic boat accident in Morocco in which 44 Pakistanis died.
Sources told Geo News on Saturday that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has formed a special committee to oversee the inquiry.
The incident occurred on Thursday when a boat carrying illegal immigrants from the African country of Mauritania to Spain capsized, killing 50 migrants.
Although, 36 Pakistani nationals were rescued, the rest are still missing and should be presumed dead, according to a report by the Pakistani embassy.
The ill-fated boat left Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants on board. Moroccan officials said 66 of the passengers were Pakistani nationals and said it had rescued 36 people after the crash.
This development comes in the backdrop of another similar incident where more than 80 Pakistanis drowned after their boats capsized near Greece on the intervening night of December 13 and 14, 2024.
The Greek boat tragedy drew a strong reaction from the government and Prime Minister Shehbaz directed the authorities to take strict action against people involved in human trafficking.
Since then the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has made massive arrests and operations against the human trafficking mafia and their facilitators.
A total of 185 human traffickers and agents were arrested during the past month, an FIA spokesperson said, adding that 38 of the most wanted smugglers listed in the FIA’s Red Book, as well as the 2024 Greek yacht, were arrested. Sixteen agents involved in the tragedy were arrested, The News reported.
Apart from this, FIA Director General Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir has accused the human trafficking mafia of facilitating and facilitating illegal migration. 35 officials have been dismissed for failure to pay.
According to FIA sources, a four-member investigation team is set to leave for Morocco tonight to investigate the latest boat capsizing incident.
The team will be led by Additional Secretary Home Salman Chaudhry, Additional Director North FIA Punjab Munir Masood Marth is also part of the delegation.
Additionally, the team will include one officer each from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Intelligence Bureau (IB). Investigators are expected to stay in Morocco for three to four days.
In Morocco, the team will meet survivors of the boat tragedy, investigate claims of torture and deaths of Pakistani nationals, and collect critical evidence.
Meanwhile, according to the FIA report, 20 people traveled to Senegal and Saudi Arabia from Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad airports between May and September 2024.
Seven of those who went to African countries from Faisalabad were on visitor visas while one was on temporary resident visas.
Investigation revealed that six persons had traveled from Karachi on visit and tourist visas to Senegal via Ethiopian Airlines.
Additionally, two persons from Lahore who were on Umrah visa went to Saudi Arabia on September 18.
The FIA report said that 9 people belonged to Gujarat, out of which 5 were rescued while 4 died in the tragic incident.
Three residents of Mandi Bahauddin survived the overturning of the boat while three others did not.
One person from Gujranwala also died, while three from Sheikhupura and one from Sialkot were rescued.
Cases filed
The FIA has also registered three cases over the Morocco incident.
The first case has been filed by the families of two Sialkot-based brothers Irfan and Arsalan, claiming that a human trafficker named Asghar took Rs 80 lakh to send the brothers to Spain.
FIA sources say that the boatman escaped unharmed and is in the custody of Moroccan authorities.
The second case has been filed by the family of Ali Raza of Gujranwala. While the third case has been filed by the family of a resident of Gujranwala.
FIA sources say that four suspects are absconding and their names have been added to the “stop list”.
FIA officials have also identified a human-trafficking gang that includes a woman and her two sons.
