Greece boat disaster: Pakistan to observe day of mourning tomorrow
Expressing his grief over the tragic incident of the boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece resulting in deaths of several people, including Pakistanis, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a countrywide day of mourning on Monday (tomorrow).
At least 78 people were drowned when the ill-fated boat with reportedly 400 to 750 people onboard sank in the Mediterranean Sea near the Greek coast. Meanwhile, some 104 people were rescued and sent to Kalamata, Greece, as per to the latest media reports.
According to a notification issued by the Prime Minister Office, the day of mourning will be observed throughout the country tomorrow.
It said that the national flag will fly at half mast at all the important buildings.
Meanwhile, the prime minister has constituted a four-member high-level committee to investigate the tragic incident of boat capsizing off Greece’s coast.
According to a notification issued by the PM’s Office, the committee will comprise National Police Bureau Director General Ehsan Sadiq —who will head the body — Minister of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary (Africa) Javed Ahmed Umrani, AJK’s Police Region Poonch Deputy Inspector General Sardar Zaheer Ahemed and FIA’s Joint Secretary Faisal Nisar Chaudhry.
The committee shall submit its report within one week.
As per terms of reference of the committee, it will ascertain facts of the Greece boat tragedy, to identity loopholes and lapses in the legal and enforcement mechanism in Pakistan that exposed precious human lives to the vagaries of human trafficking in this particular case and similar incidents in the past.
It will analyse similar past incidents and action taken. The forum will also take stock of existing legal framework, enforcement measures in the country and the international coordination to prevent, control and punish human smuggling and to prepare short and long term recommendations, including legislation, enforcement measures, awareness campaign and improvement of national and international coordination to apprehend agents, facilitators, masterminds and rackets and for the eradication of the menace of human trafficking.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had confirmed that 12 Pakistanis were among the survivors of the capsized overloaded fishing boat which sank off the Peloponnese in southern Greece.
“Sympathies of the entire nation, including me, are with the families of the deceased,” a press release issued by Prime Minister Office’s media wing quoted PM Shehbaz as saying today.
It said that the premier while ordering the probe into the matter, directed the authorities concerned to tighten the noose around the elements involved in luring people into dangerous businesses such as trafficking.
It further stated that the premier also ordered an immediate crackdown against the agents involved in the heinous crime and punish them in a befitting manner.
PM Shehbaz also directed the Pakistani Embassy in Greece to take care of the 12 Pakistanis who had been rescued in the incident, it added.
On Saturday, the FIA said that the prime suspect in the Greek boat tragedy, Sajid Mehmood, was arrested at Karachi airport while he was trying to flee to Azerbaijan.
The FIA said the suspect was allegedly involved in smuggling people to Europe via Greece and Libya. He was offloaded from a plane after his name appeared on the FIA’s stop list, the officials added.
The federal agency further stated that the same suspect was also allegedly involved in the boat incident that capsized in Libya in March.
On Thursday, the Greek police arrested nine Egyptians on suspicion of people smuggling — one of them was the captain of the boat carrying the migrants.
They were detained at the port of Kalamata, where the survivors are being cared for, said Greek news agency ANA.
Greece, Italy and Spain are among the main landing points for tens of thousands of people who seek to reach Europe.
