Pakistani authorities arrested 10 alleged human traffickers on Sunday, days after hundreds of migrants were feared drowned off the Greek coast.
Every year, thousands of young Pakistanis embark on perilous journeys attempting to enter Europe illegally in search of a better life.
Local media said as many as 300 Pakistanis had died after a rusty trawler sank near Greece’s Peloponnese Peninsula on Wednesday last week.
Photo: AP
Officials said nine people had been detained in Pakistan-administered Kashmir — home to a majority of the victims — and one in Gujrat in Punjab Province, which has long served as a springboard for migrants.
“They are presently under investigation for their involvement in facilitating the entire process,” Pakistan-administered Kashmir local official Chaudhary Shaukat said.
About 400 to 750 people were believed to be aboard the boat, a joint statement by the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency said.
On Saturday, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said 12 nationals had survived, but it had no information about how many had been on the boat.
An immigration official said on condition of anonymity that the figure could be higher than 200.
Yesterday was declared a national day of mourning in Pakistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate crackdown on agents engaged in people smuggling, saying they would be “severely punished.”
“The prime minister has given a firm directive to intensify efforts in combating individuals involved in the heinous crime of human trafficking,” his office said in a statement yesterday.
A combination of political turmoil and an economy on the brink of collapse drives tens of thousands of Pakistanis to leave the country — legally and illegally.
Young men, primarily from the east of India’s Punjab state and the northwestern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, often use a route through Iran, Libya, Turkey and Greece to enter Europe.
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