Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday directed for holding of an inquiry into the human trafficking that led to tragic incident of migrants shipwreck near Greece with several Pakistani nationals onboard.
The prime minister directed for an immediate crackdown against agents involved in the heinous crime of human trafficking and called for bringing them to justice. The prime minister expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the death of Pakistani nationals in the tragic incident that took place off the coast of Greece, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release. The prime minister also directed the officials of the Pakistan embassy in Greece to look after 12 Pakistanis rescued from the scene of the disaster. The prime minister also directed for taking further stringent action against the elements involved in human trafficking, besides asking the law enforcement agencies for the identification of such traffickers who had been duping people to undertake such perilous steps.
Upon the directive of the prime minister, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had deputed DIG Alam Shinwari as a focal person to facilitate information regarding those who lost lives in the incident and others who were injured. Similarly, chief secretary Azad Jammu and Kashmir had also tasked a focal person to contact the Pakistan embassy and Greek authorities in Greece regarding the latest information over the casualties and injuries. According to the latest media reports, at least 78 people died after an overcrowded vessel went down on Wednesday. A total of 104 passengers were rescued and sent to Kalamata, Greece. The people rescued so far included 43 Egyptian nationals, 47 Syrian nationals, 12 Pakistani nationals, and two Palestinians, the Hellenic Coast Guard were quoted by international media outlets. Eight of those rescued were minors. Expressing his grief over the tragic incident, Shehbaz Sharif has announced a countrywide day of mourning on Monday (today). Meanwhile, the prime minister constituted a four-member high-level committee to investigate the tragic incident of boat capsizing off Greece’s coast. According to a notification issued by the PM’s Office, the committee will comprise National Police Bureau Director General Ehsan Sadiq -who will head the body –
Minister of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary (Africa) Javed Ahmed Umrani, AJK’s Police Region Poonch Deputy Inspector General Sardar Zaheer Ahemed and FIA’s Joint Secretary Faisal Nisar Chaudhry. The committee shall submit its report within one week. As per terms of reference of the committee, it will ascertain facts of the Greece boat tragedy, to identity loopholes and lapses in the legal and enforcement mechanism in Pakistan that exposed precious human lives to the vagaries of human trafficking in this particular case and similar incidents in the past.
It will analyse similar past incidents and action taken. The forum will also take stock of existing legal framework, enforcement measures in the country and the international coordination to prevent, control and punish human smuggling and to prepare short and long term recommendations, including legislation, enforcement measures, awareness campaign and improvement of national and international coordination to apprehend agents, facilitators, masterminds and rackets and for the eradication of the menace of human trafficking. On Saturday, the FIA said that the prime suspect in the Greek boat tragedy, Sajid Mehmood, was arrested at Karachi airport while he was trying to flee to Azerbaijan.
The FIA said the suspect was allegedly involved in smuggling people to Europe via Greece and Libya. He was offloaded from a plane after his name appeared on the FIA’s stop list, the officials added. The federal agency further stated that the same suspect was also allegedly involved in the boat incident that capsized in Libya in March. On Thursday, the Greek police arrested nine Egyptians on suspicion of people smuggling – one of them was the captain of the boat carrying the migrants. They were detained at the port of Kalamata, where the survivors are being cared for, said Greek news agency ANA. Greece, Italy and Spain are among the main landing points for tens of thousands of people who seek to reach Europe.