ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s mission in Greece said on Thursday five Pakistanis had been killed in a migrant boat tragedy off the Greek island of Gavdos last week but it had “no concrete information” on how many of its nationals were missing.

The latest incident of the boat capsizing highlights the perilous journeys many migrants undertake due to conflicts and lack of economic opportunities in their home countries. 

In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.

A report in Pakistan’s Geo News on Thursday said at least 40 Pakistanis had been killed in the latest tragedy, quoting the embassy in Athens. 

“So far, we have information of five dead Pakistanis and another 47 who have been rescued. No concrete information of missing persons is with us, and this is the final information available at this time,” an official at Pakistan’s mission in Greece told Arab News over the telephone, declining to be named.

“We are in contact with the authorities who have concluded their special search operation.”

The official added that regular patrolling would continue, and Greek authorities would inform the mission if any new information became available. He declined to comment on the Geo News report and referred Arab News to the foreign office. 

Speaking to Arab News, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the government had already released death toll figures and had no further information. 

“We cannot comment on people’s statements or claims regarding how many Pakistanis were on board until we receive evidence from the investigation,” she said in response to a question about the Geo News report that 40 Pakistanis were feared dead. “It is difficult to verify the claimed figure, as there was no official record of their travel.”

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered strict measures to combat human trafficking and demanded a detailed report on human trafficking incidents involving Pakistani citizens this year. 

Separately, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has filed six cases against suspects accused of facilitating the transport of victims from Punjab to Libya, where they were subsequently sent on boats to Greece.

Greece was a favored gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia in 2015-2016, when nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, mostly via inflatable dinghies.

Incidents with migrant boats and shipwrecks off Crete and its tiny neighbor Gavdos, which are relatively isolated in the central Mediterranean, have increased over the past year.