Burial of 13 migrants killed in Morocco boat sinking begins
Family members and residents carry the coffin of Arslan Khan, a victim of last month’s migrant boat capsizing off North Africa, during his funeral ceremony in Mirza Virkan village, in eastern Punjab province, on February 6, 2025. Photo: AFP
A Pakistani man who drowned along with 12 fellow nationals when a boat carrying migrants capsized off northwest Africa was buried in his hometown on Thursday.
Every year, thousands of Pakistanis pay large sums to human traffickers for risky and illegal journeys to Europe in search of work and better opportunities to support their families.
Sadly, Pakistanis are often among those who drown in overcrowded boats on the Mediterranean Sea, the world's deadliest migrant route.
This week, the foreign ministry confirmed that 13 of its citizens were among the victims of a boat tragedy that occurred in the Atlantic Ocean.
The boat, which had around 80 passengers aboard, left Mauritania heading for Spain's Canary Islands. However, it capsized near the Western Sahara port of Dakhla on January 16.
On Thursday, Arslan Khan, one of four bodies repatriated from the shipwreck, was laid to rest in the village of Mirza Virkan in eastern Punjab. His brother, Adnan Khan, shared the heartbreak, saying, “We sent Arslan to build a better future, and the trafficker assured us he would send him legally. We sold our property and animals for his future, but the trafficker betrayed us—he sent back our brother’s dead body.”
According to sources at the Pakistani Embassy in Morocco, initial reports on January 15 suggested that 44 Pakistanis had died in the boat accident. However, local authorities recovered only 13 bodies from the scene.
The Pakistani embassy in Morocco worked with local officials to facilitate the identification process. Fingerprint data and photographs were shared with NADRA, which verified the identities of the victims. Once the confirmation was completed, official lists were compiled and released.
The identified victims include:
Sufyan Ali (son of Javed Iqbal) – Passport No. VF1812352
Sajjad Ali (son of Muhammad Nawaz) – Passport No. XX1836111
Rais Afzal (son of Muhammad Afzal) – Passport No. MJ1516091
Qasnain Haider (son of Muhammad Banaras) – Passport No. AA6421773
Muhammad Waqas (son of Sanaullah) – Passport No. DJ6315471
Muhammad Akram (son of Ghulam Rasool) – Passport No. DN0151754
Muhammad Arsalan Khan (son of Ramzan Khan) – Passport No. LM4153261
Hamid Shabbir (son of Ghulam Shabbir) – Passport No. CZ5133683
Qaiser Iqbal (son of Muhammad Iqbal) – Passport No. GR1331413
Danish Rehman (son of Muhammad Nawaz) – Passport No. SE9154371
Muhammad Sajawal (son of Rahim Deen) – Passport No. AY5593661
Shehzad Ahmed (son of Wilayat Hussain) – Passport No. GN1162802
Ehtesham (son of Tariq Mehmood) – Passport No. CE1170122
Pakistan has one of the highest rates of emigration in the world, with many migrants coming from Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where communities have long-standing ties to Europe.
According to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration, an estimated 40,000 Pakistanis attempt illegal migration each year.
In June 2023, the Mediterranean saw one of its deadliest shipwrecks, when an overloaded trawler carrying more than 750 people, including up to 350 Pakistanis, sank. Only 82 bodies were recovered.