Pakistan’s mission in Greece confirmed on Thursday that five Pakistanis were among the victims of the migrant boat tragedy off the Greek island of Gavdos last week. However, the mission stated that it had “no concrete information” on how many of its citizens are still missing, Arab News reported.
A report by a local news channel claimed that at least 40 Pakistanis were killed in the recent tragedy, citing the embassy in Athens.
An official from Pakistan’s mission in Greece said: “So far we have information of five Pakistanis dead and 47 others who have been rescued. “We do not have specific information about missing persons and this is the latest information available at this time.”
“We are in contact with the authorities who have concluded their special search operation,” he added, noting that regular patrols will continue and the Greek authorities will keep the mission informed of any developments.
Responding to the local media report, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the government had already released the official death toll and had no further details.
“We cannot comment on people’s statements or claims about how many Pakistanis were on board until we receive evidence from the investigation,” he said. “It is difficult to verify the claimed figure, as there was no official record of his trip.”
The incident has raised concerns about human trafficking, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordering strict measures to combat the practice and demanding a detailed report on human trafficking involving Pakistani nationals this year.
The FIA arrested two of its officers
Meanwhile, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has launched a major crackdown on human traffickers linked to the deadly boat tragedy, registering cases against three traffickers and arresting two of its officers for negligence.
According to an official statement released by the FIA on Thursday, the FIA Composite Circle in Faisalabad filed a case against three human traffickers who were allegedly involved in luring Pakistanis to attempt the dangerous journey to Greece.
The traffickers are accused of deceiving victims by promising to send them illegally abroad, a plan that ultimately led to a tragic boat accident.
The statement also revealed that two FIA officers, Inspector Zubair Ashraf and Sub-Inspector Shahid Imran, were arrested for neglecting their duties during passenger screening processes at Faisalabad airport.
Both officials were assigned as duty managers at the airport when the 18 victims of the Greek ship disaster went through the inspection process.
“These officers failed in their duties and demonstrated gross negligence during passenger screening,” the FIA said.
The investigation indicated that traffickers had collected significant sums of money from victims, including Abdul Rauf, a notorious agent involved in the scheme.
According to the FIA, Abdul Rauf, Abbas Zulfiqar and Qamar-ul-Zaman are the key figures in the human trafficking network and have been named in the case.
The FIA has launched an extensive investigation, conducting raids in several regions to arrest the remaining suspects, while the agency confirmed that it is using all available resources to dismantle the human trafficking network responsible for this tragedy.
