As many as 16 Pakistani nationals are believed to be among the 65 illegal migrants who lost their lives when a boat overturned near Zawiya, a coastal city in northwestern Libya, over the weekend.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has instructed the foreign affairs ministry to expedite the process of identifying the victims, according to The Times of India.
The Pakistan Embassy in Tripoli has already dispatched a team to a hospital near Marsa Dela port to assist in the identification process, the foreign ministry confirmed.
On Tuesday, the ministry disclosed that 63 Pakistanis were aboard the ill-fated vessel, with 16 bodies recovered so far, while at least 10 remain missing.
“Three survivors are currently in Tripoli, where they are receiving care from the [Pakistani] embassy,” the ministry stated.
This tragedy follows a series of similar incidents. On January 16, a Europe-bound boat carrying 86 migrants capsized off Morocco’s coast, resulting in the deaths of 50 Pakistanis. Before that, in June 2023, at least 300 Pakistanis drowned when a boat attempting to reach Italy sank off the Greek coast.
Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has identified Libya as one of the 15 key transit points used by human traffickers.
Each year, thousands of Pakistanis pay smugglers large sums in hopes of illegally reaching Europe to secure jobs and support their families. Pakistani authorities state that traffickers transport these migrants to Libya, from where they are either sent by boat to Europe or relocated to coastal cities in Morocco and Mauritania in West Africa.
