At least 79, mostly from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, drown in migrant shipwreck off Greece

Medical staffs carry a survivor on a stretcher outside a warehouse at the port in Kalamata town, on June 14, 2023, after a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank in international waters in the Ionian Sea. (AFP)
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Updated 14 June 2023
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At least 79, mostly from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, drown in migrant shipwreck off Greece

  • Shipwreck is deadliest off Greece this year, and among the worst in Europe
  • European rescue charity said it believed around 750 people were on board

KALAMATA, Greece: At least 79 migrants drowned early on Wednesday and hundreds more were feared dead or missing after their overloaded boat capsized and sank in open seas off Greece, in one of Europe’s deadliest shipping disasters.
As a painstaking search for survivors continued, a European rescue support charity said it believed around 750 people were on board the 20- to 30-meter-long (65-100 foot) vessel, while the UN’s migration agency cited an estimate of up to 400.
Greek authorities said it was too soon to speculate on the total number.
Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Most cross over to Greek islands from nearby Turkiye.
But since the previous conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis introduced tougher surveillance at the country’s migrant camps, increasing numbers have chosen to make a longer, more dangerous journey from Turkiye to Italy via Greece.
Greek state broadcaster ERT said the boat that sank was en route for Italy, having set sail from the Libyan town of Tobruk, which lies south of the island of Crete. Greek authorities did not confirm the vessel’s departure port.
Alarm Phone, which operates a trans-European network supporting rescue operations, said it received alerts from people on board a ship in distress off Greece late on Tuesday, but subsequently lost contact.
“According to the people, there were 750 people on board... We now hear reports of a shipwreck and fear they are true,” it said on Twitter.
Greek authorities said it remained unclear how many the vessel was carrying when it went under, and that 104 people had been rescued by midday.
“It is not safe to give a number. We do not know how many people were in the hold,” Greek coast guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou told Greece’s MEGA TV. .”..There were too many people on the outer deck. It was full.”
Late on Tuesday, a few hours before the boat capsized, the boat’s occupants refused an offer of help, insisting on continuing their journey, the coast guard said.
The shipwreck is the deadliest off Greece this year, and among the worst in Europe. In February, 96 people died when their wooden boat smashed into rocks on Italy’s Calabrian coast during a storm.
The Greek migration ministry blamed international smuggling networks for putting migrants’ lives at risk, while Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called on governments to work together on creating safe pathways for people fleeing poverty and war.

INTERNATIONAL WATERS

The Greek coast guard said the ill-fated boat was first spotted late on Tuesday by EU border agency Frontex in international waters around 50 miles (80 km) southwest of the southern Greek coastal town of Pylos.
Italian authorities then alerted Greece to the vessel’s presence, and the Greek coast guard approached it and offered help. But migrants packed on its outer deck “refused assistance and stated their desire to continue their voyage,” according to the coast guard.
A few hours later, the vessel began veering from side to side before capsizing around 2 a.m. on Wednesday and then sinking, a government official said.
ERT TV said most of those on board were young men in their 20s. A shipping ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said most were from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan.
Survivors were taken to the southwestern Greek coastal town of Kalamata and were expected to be moved to a camp outside Athens, the migration ministry said.
Covered in blankets, exhausted survivors rested on mattresses at a warehouse shelter set up in Kalamata port.
Libya, which has had little stability or security since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, is a major launching point for people seeking to reach Europe by sea. People-smuggling networks are mainly run by military factions that control coastal areas.
In recent days, security forces in Libya have cracked down on migrants with detentions and deportations. It was not clear whether the ship that sank on Wednesday departed Libya before or after the crackdowns.
Greece was at the front line of Europe’s migration crisis of 2015-16, when nearly 1 million people arrived on its islands from Turkiye before heading north to wealthier European states.
Numbers have fallen dramatically since a 2016 EU-Turkiye deal to stem the flows. Mitsotakis’ government has said its tougher stance had helped keep arrivals low.
Greece is currently led by a caretaker administration ahead of a national election on June 25 that the conservatives are expected to win.
About 72,000 refugees and migrants have arrived so far this year in Europe’s front-line Mediterranean countries, according to United Nations data, with the majority landing in Italy and around 6,500 in Greece.
Nearly 1,000 people are estimated to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean this year, according to the UN.


Pakistan says five killed, no information on missing as search ends in Greece boat tragedy

Updated 8 sec ago
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Pakistan says five killed, no information on missing as search ends in Greece boat tragedy

  • Report in Geo News says at least 40 Pakistanis killed in migrant boat tragedy off Greek island of Gavdos last week
  • Six cases filed against suspects accused of facilitating transport of victims from Punjab to Libya where they boarded boats

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.


Pakistan calls for transport connectivity, trade corridors between D-8 developing nations

Updated 18 min 44 sec ago
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Pakistan calls for transport connectivity, trade corridors between D-8 developing nations

  • PM Sharif is in Cairo to attend Eleventh Summit of D-8 countries, hold bilateral meetings with world leaders on forum’s sidelines
  • Pakistani PM will also and attend a special meeting on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with a focus on Palestine and Lebanon

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday called for better transport connectivity and trade corridors between member states from the D-8 developing group of nations to boost regional trade and economic cooperation.

Sharif arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to lead the Pakistan delegation at the Eleventh Summit of D-8 countries, hold bilateral discussions with multiple world leaders on the sidelines of the forum and attend a special meeting on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with a focus on Gaza and Lebanon.

The D-8 grouping promotes economic and development cooperation among Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Türkiye. Key areas of cooperation are agriculture, trade, transportation, industry, energy and tourism.

The bloc’s latest summit is themed “Investing in Youth and Supporting SMEs: Shaping Tomorrow’s Economy.”

“Connectivity is a force multiplier and is rightly hailed as a vehicle for peace and prosperity,” Sharif said as he addressed the summit. “We need to explore the possibilities of developing and enhancing transport connectivity among D-8 member states for building efficient intra-trade corridors and reliable supply chains.

In this regard, the Pakistan, Iran and Turkiye corridor is an excellent project for very efficient connectivity.”

The Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Road Transport Corridor is a cross-border trade initiative aimed at improving road transport links and providing more efficient movement options for goods between South Asia, the Middle East and Europe.


Pakistan naval chief holds defense cooperation, regional security talks on visit to Oman

Updated 55 min 46 sec ago
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Pakistan naval chief holds defense cooperation, regional security talks on visit to Oman

  • Oman is the nearest Arab country to Pakistan, because of which they share a maritime boundary
  • Last week, the Pakistan navy conducted joint naval exercises and drills with the Royal Oman ship ‘Alseeb’

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani naval chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf is on an official visit to Oman to discuss defense cooperation, smuggling and regional maritime security, the military’s media wing said on Thursday.

Oman is the nearest Arab country to Pakistan, because of which they share a maritime boundary. Pakistan shares a unique ‘blood bond’ with Oman, one third of whose population originates from Pakistan’s Balochistan province, while the southwestern port city of Gwadar, which is 200 nautical miles from Oman, was transferred to Pakistan in 1958, before which it had remained gifted to the Sultan of Oman for 175 years.

“During the meetings, the security situation in the Indian Ocean and joint defense cooperation were discussed,” the military’s media wing said after Ashraf had separate meetings with the minister of the Royal Office of the Sultanate of Oman, and the commanders of the Omani Royal Navy and National Defense College.

“Naval Chief highlighted the role of Pakistan Navy in preventing piracy and smuggling,” the statement said. “Pakistan Navy is a strong supporter of promoting maritime security in collaboration with other regional countries.”

Last week, the Pakistan navy conducted joint naval exercises and drills with Royal Oman ship ‘Alseeb.’ The bilateral naval exercise, “Samar Al-Tayeb,” is conducted regularly between the navies of the two nations.


Asian Development Bank approves $7.5 million to boost health care in Pakistan’s northwest

Updated 19 December 2024
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Asian Development Bank approves $7.5 million to boost health care in Pakistan’s northwest

  • Funds will aid in revamping hospitals, improving service delivery, modernizing equipment across secondary health facilities
  • The ADB has committed over $52 billion to Pakistan, one of its founding members, since 1966 in public, private sector loans

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $7.5 million to enhance health care systems in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistani state media reported on Thursday.

The funds will support the mega project of revamping of Non-Teaching District Headquarters hospitals across the province, the Radio Pakistan broadcaster reported.

“It would also improve service delivery, and modernize equipment across secondary health care facilities,” the report read.

The regional development bank has committed over $52 billion to Pakistan, one of its founding members, since 1966 in public and private sector loans, grants and other forms of financing to promote inclusive economic growth in the country.

On Dec. 14, Pakistan signed a loan agreement with the ADB for the Integrated Social Protection Development Program additional financing amounting to $330 million.


India to play Champions Trophy on neutral ground, not Pakistan

Updated 19 December 2024
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India to play Champions Trophy on neutral ground, not Pakistan

  • In return, Pakistan will also play upcoming ICC tournaments hosted by India in other countries, yet to be decided
  • The agreement will extend to ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 hosted by India, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026

KARACHI: India will play next year’s Champions Trophy matches on neutral ground after refusing to visit tournament host and arch-rival Pakistan, the International Cricket Council said Thursday following weeks of wrangling.
In return, Pakistan will also play upcoming ICC tournaments hosted by India in other countries, yet to be decided.
“India and Pakistan matches hosted by either country at ICC Events during the 2024-2027 rights cycle will be played at a neutral venue, the ICC Board confirmed,” said a statement released by the body.
“This will apply to the upcoming ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (hosted by Pakistan).”
The agreement will extend to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 hosted by India, and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 hosted by India and Sri Lanka, the statement added.
The announcement ended a month-long stand-off over the Champions Trophy, after India told the ICC it will not send its team to Pakistan because of security fears and political tension.
Pakistan did, however, play in India during the 2023 ICC World Cup hosted there.