Nation observes day of mourning

800 were on board ill-fated Greece ship: police report

MUZAFFARABAD/ ISLAMABAD/ GUJRAT:

A boat that capsized off the coast of Greece last week was carrying around 800 people, according to an initial investigation by police, as the nation observed a national day of mourning on Monday.

Greece recovered two more bodies on Monday, bringing the confirmed toll to 80. Only 104 people are known to have survived.

As macabre details surface regarding the harrowing conditions aboard the trawler that tragically sank off the coast of Greece last Wednesday, a growing wave of concern is directed towards the efficacy of the state agencies entrusted with the crucial task of combating human trafficking.

National flags were at half-mast on all official buildings on Monday. The police report said one of those arrested had admitted to sending three men onto the boat, which had a capacity for 300-350 people, and had charged them each up to Rs3 million ($10,452.96).

The assessment 800 people were on board came from initial investigations, police officer Riaz Mughal said. "We learnt from two survivors, the arrested suspects and the bereaved families that the boat was carrying around 750 to 800 people," Mughal told Reuters.

Witness accounts had placed the number on board at between 400 and 750 people and Greek authorities have said 104 survivors and 78 bodies have been brought ashore.

One of the suspects arrested in Pakistan said his own son had been on the boat, and was missing, the report said. It also said the main suspect behind a smuggling network spanning Libya, Pakistan and Greece, was based in Libya.

Mughal said at least 21 of those who died last week came from the Kotli district in AJK.

Senior Regional Police Officer Tahir Mahmood, based in Muzaffarabad said the police were hunting further suspects in addition to those arrested. He did not specify how many.

The boat is thought to have set off with passengers from the Libyan coastal city of Tobruk on June 10. Greek authorities say the vessel, which they had monitored for about 15 hours after being alerted by Italy, flipped and capsized about 25 minutes after its engine stalled in the early hours of June 14.

Authorities said the vessel repeatedly refused Greek help, saying it wanted to go to Italy. Alarm Phone, an advocacy group that was in communication with the vessel, said that on at least two occasions people on board pleaded for help.

The group said it alerted Greek authorities and aid agencies hours before the disaster unfolded. Greek authorities also denied reports the vessel was stationary for hours, saying that it had sailed a distance of about 30 nautical miles from its detection to its sinking.

Separately, in a press release issued Monday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) asked the state to take responsibility “for its part” in the Greece boat tragedy.

Expressing shock and grief, it said that the incident should serve as a “stark reminder to the state that it has failed to stem a longstanding and grievous human rights violation”.

“Pakistan is a well-known source, transit and destination country for trafficking in persons,” the commission stated. “However, it is clear that a serious lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies continues to allow traffickers to operate with impunity.”

Read Greece boat disaster: A Pakistani father's anguish over his missing son

It stressed that the government must “acknowledge that the dearth of economic opportunities available in the country compels more and more people to take their chances on such routes without being aware of the risk”.

The HRCP further said that it was necessary to question the efficiency of the FIA in tracking, monitoring and reporting instances of trafficking.

“The state must also implement comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation and train the public officials concerned to identify and report such crimes and hold the perpetrators to account,” it added.

Lawmakers in the National Assembly called for taking to task all those involved in the grisly business. Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf, who chaired the assembly session, expressed deep concern over the recent shipwreck incident in Greece and the issue of human smuggling.

He called for immediate action to hold those responsible for exploiting innocent people accountable for their actions.

Taking the floor, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif emphasised the need for firm action against individuals involved in the illegal transportation of people abroad.

The minister expressed deep grief and sorrow over the tragic deaths of Pakistani migrants in a recent boat incident near the coast of Greece.

Asif highlighted that numerous families in Azad Jammu Kashmir, Sialkot, Gujranwala, and Gujrat were currently enduring immense grief as a result of the incident.

He called for a collective effort from the government and opposition parties to take stern action against human traffickers, emphasising the urgency to put an end to this illegal movement.

While acknowledging the arrest of some individuals within the country, Asif stressed that the human trafficking networks also exist in various other countries. He urged international cooperation to effectively combat this issue.

Moreover, the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) also sprang into action following uproar over the magnitude of the tragedy and claimed to have arrested on Monday at least two “key suspects” from Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin related to the Greece shipwreck and registered a first information report (FIR) against the human smugglers.

The accused, Waqas Ahmad from Wazirabad and Sajid Mehmood from Mandi Bahauddin, are alleged to have been involved in the smuggling of the victims of a drowning incident in Greece.

Waqas is alleged to have conspired with other accomplices to traffic several individuals to Europe in exchange for money. The agent is said to have received Rs2.3 million in this regard, as per the details provided by the FIA Link Office Greece.

Furthermore, FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle Gujrat registered another case against Mehmood who was offloaded from Karachi Airport.

Read More Greece shipwreck: Heart-wrenching tales of Pakistanis seeking a better life

An earlier case had been registered against accused Sajid Mehmood over a similar incident but he had been absconding for the past several months until he was arrested by the authorities at Karachi airport yesterday (Sunday).

He is alleged to have received Rs2.5 million from the victims as well. One of the victims' family members had registered a case against him.

According to the spokesperson of FIA, further investigation is ongoing and raids are being conducted to arrest other accused.

the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said that it had formed teams in major cities across the country to nab traffickers. Reuters

With additional input from our correspondent in Islamabad