As many as 16 Pakistanis are believed to be among the 65 illegal migrants who died after a boat capsized off the coast of Zawiya in northwestern Libya over the weekend, reports bdnews24.com.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the country's foreign affairs ministry to expedite the identification of the victims, according to The Times of India.
The Pakistan Embassy in Tripoli had already sent a team to a local hospital near Marsa Dela port to assist with the process, the foreign ministry said.
On Tuesday, the ministry revealed that while 63 Pakistanis were on board the ill-fated boat, the bodies of 16 of them were fished out so far. At least 10 remain missing.
“Three of the survivors are in Tripoli, being looked after by the [Pakistani] embassy,” the ministry said in a statement.
Previously, 50 Pakistanis died when a Europe-bound boat with 86 migrants sank off Morocco coast on Jan 16. Before that, at least 300 Pakistanis drowned when a boat trying to enter Italy sank off the Greek coast in June 2023.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has identified Libya as one of 15 transit points used for human trafficking.
Every year, thousands of Pakistanis pay traffickers large sums in hopes of reaching Europe illegally to find work and support their families.
Pakistani authorities say that traffickers send these migrants seeking to enter Europe illegally to Libya. From there, they are either taken by boat to Europe or relocated to coastal cities in Morocco and Mauritania in West Africa.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
