Migrant shipwreck in Greece: Pakistan arrests 10 smugglers

Pakistani authorities announced on Sunday that they had arrested ten people suspected of human trafficking after dozens of migrants died. shipwreck A dilapidated and overcrowded boat on the coast of Greece. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered strict action against “persons involved in the heinous crime of human trafficking” and promised that the culprits would be “severely punished”.

Every year, thousands of Pakistanis make the dangerous crossings to Europe, where they try to enter illegally in search of a better life. Pakistani migrants were traveling on a boat that capsized and sank just fifteen minutes off the Peloponnese on Wednesday morning, killing at least 78 people and leaving hundreds missing.

A strong presence on the board

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that 12 Pakistanis were among the survivors, although it was not known how many of its nationals were on board. But their number could be more than 200, said an immigration official on condition of anonymity. According to the International Organization for Migration and the High Commission for Refugees, the number of people on board is between 400 and 750.

Nine people were arrested for “human trafficking” in the Pakistani part of Kashmir, where most of the victims were born. Another was arrested in Gujarat in Punjab, which has long been a getaway spot for candidates.

The department is investigating

Those caught “are currently being interrogated for their involvement in facilitating the whole process,” Kashmir official Chaudhary Shaukat told AFP. Political unrest and an economy on the brink of collapse are driving tens of thousands of Pakistanis out of the country, either legally or illegally. Young people, mainly from eastern Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, often travel from Iran, Libya, Turkey and Greece to enter Europe illegally.

(AFP)