ATHENS: Desperate hands clutched at Ali Elwan’s arms, legs and neck, and screams misted his ears, as he spat out saltwater and fought for three hours to keep afloat in the night, dozens of miles from land.
Although a poor swimmer, he lived — one of just 104 survivors from the wreck of a dilapidated old metal fishing boat smuggling up to 750 migrants from North Africa to Europe.
“I was so, so lucky,” the 30-year-old Egyptian told The Associated Press in Athens, Greece, where he works odd jobs while he waits to hear the outcome of his asylum application. “I have two babies. Maybe I stay(ed) in this life for them.”
Thousands have died in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks in recent years as migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa seek a better life in the affluent European Union.
But the sinking of the Adriana a year ago Friday in international waters 75 kilometers (45 miles) off Pylos in southern Greece was one of the worst. Only 82 bodies were recovered, so that hundreds of families still lack even the grim certitude that their relatives are dead.
Elwan, a cook whose wife and children are in Cairo, says he still gets phone calls from Egypt from mothers, brothers and wives of the missing.
“We (left) home to get best life for family and until now (their families) know nothing about them,” he said.
And after a year there are only hazy answers as to why so many lives were lost, what caused the shipwreck and who can be held answerable.
Migrant charities and human rights groups have strongly criticized Greece’s handling of the sinking.
The Greek coast guard, migration ministry and other officials did not respond to requests for comment ahead of the anniversary.
Authorities had a coast guard boat on the scene and merchant ships in the vicinity during the trawler’s last hours. They blame smugglers who crammed hundreds of people into an unseaworthy vessel — most in an airless hold designed to store a catch of fish — for a nightmare voyage from Libya to Italy.
They also say the Adriana capsized when its passengers — some of whom wanted to press on for Italy after five dreadful days at sea, others to seek safety in Greece — suddenly surged to one side, causing it to lurch and turn turtle. And they insist that offers to take the migrants off the ship were rebuffed by people set on reaching Italy.
Elwan — who says he was on deck with a clear view of what happened — and other survivors say the lurching followed a botched coast guard attempt to tow the trawler. He claimed the coast guard hurriedly cut the towline when it became evident the Adriana would sink and drag their boat down with it.
“If you find the ship (at the bottom of the sea), you will find this rope” still attached to it, he said.
But the logistics make such a feat nigh-on impossible, Greek authorities say, as the ship rests some 5 kilometers (more than 3 miles) down, at one of the Mediterranean’s deepest points.
The coast guard has denied any towing attempt, and allegations that its vessel tried to shift the trawler into neighboring Italy’s area of responsibility.
A naval court began investigating last June, but has released no information on its progress or findings. Separately, in November Greece’s state ombudsman started an independent probe into authorities’ handling of the tragedy, bemoaning the coast guard’s “express denial” to initiate a disciplinary investigation.
Last month, a Greek court dropped charges against nine Egyptians accused of crewing the Adriana and causing the shipwreck. Without examining evidence for or against them, it determined that Greece lacked jurisdiction as the wreck occurred in international waters.
Effie Doussi, one of the Egyptians’ defense lawyers, argued that the ruling was “politically convenient” for Greek authorities.
“It saved the Greek state from being exposed over how the coast guard acted, given their responsibility for rescue,” she said.
Doussi said a full hearing would have included testimony from survivors and other witnesses, and let defense lawyers seek additional evidence from the coast guard, such as potential mobile phone data.
Zeeshan Sarwar, a 28-year-old Pakistani survivor, said he’s still waiting for justice, “but apparently there is nothing.”
“I may be looking fine right now, but I am broken from the inside. We are not getting justice,” he told the AP. “We are not receiving any information about the people of coast guard ... that the court has found them guilty or not.”
Elwan, the Egyptian, said he can still only sleep for three or four hours a night.
“I remember every second that happened to me,” he said. “I can’t forget anything because (I) lost friends in this ship.”
The journey that preceded the wreck was also horrendous.
Survivors said Pakistanis were confined in the hold and beaten by the crew if they tried to stir. But Arabic-speaking Egyptians and Syrians enjoyed the relative luxury of the deck. For many, that spelled the difference between life and death when the ship capsized.
“Our condition was very bad on the first day because it was the first time in our life that we were traveling on the sea,” Sarwar said.
“If a person ... tried to vomit, then they used to say that you have to do it right here on your lap, you can’t get (outside),” he said. “On the fifth day, people were fainting because of hunger and thirst. One man died.”
Elwan said he left for Europe secretly, telling his wife he would be away for months, working at an Egyptian Red Sea resort.
He’s upset that he’s still to be granted asylum, unlike many Syrian survivors who, he said, have moved on to western Europe.
“Only people from Egypt can’t get papers,” he said. “I’ve been working for 10 months to send money for my family ... If someone says come and move rubbish, I will go and move this rubbish, no problem for me.”
If he gets residence papers, Elwan wants to work in Greece and bring his family over.
Otherwise, “I will go to Italy, maybe Germany. I don’t know.”
One year on, Pakistanis among migrants who cheated death off Greece and continue to seek justice
https://arab.news/9vfgx
One year on, Pakistanis among migrants who cheated death off Greece and continue to seek justice
- Only 104 people survived the wreck of an old fishing boat smuggling 750 migrants from North Africa to Europe
- 82 bodies were recovered, so hundreds of families still lack even the grim certitude that their relatives are dead
Pakistan rules out talks with protesters demanding ex-PM Khan’s release, six killed
- Topping demands of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is release of all its leaders, including Khan
- Interior ministry says four troops killed in clashes with protesters, PTI says two supporters dead
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday ruled out talks with protesters who are holding a sit-in in Islamabad to demand the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan after four security officials and two demonstrators were killed in clashes.
Hundreds of supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Tuesday reached the D-Chowk public square in Islamabad’s heavily fortified red zone, home to parliament, key government installations, luxury hotels, embassies and the offices of foreign organizations. Protest leaders, including Khan’s wife Bushra Khan and Ali Amin Gandapur, who is the chief minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where the PTI is in power, have said this is a “do or die” sit-in that will go on until Khan is freed from prison. The former premier has been jailed since August last year and faces a slew of charges from corruption to terrorism that he says are politically motivated to keep him behind bars and away from politics.
PTI supporters broke through barricades and clashed with police as they marched on the capital late on Monday evening, with Interior Minister Naqvi saying three paramilitary troops and one policeman had been killed in clashes. The PTI said in a statement two of its supporters were confirmed dead while over 30 were wounded, the worst political violence seen in months in the South Asian nation of 241 million people.
“In today’s meeting, the clear cut decision of the prime minister and others is that there will be no talks with these protesters,” Naqvi said after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his cabinet and other top officials.
Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the government had agreed to offer the protesters a place on the outskirts of Islamabad to hold their protest and would have facilitated them in their activities.
“But why do they want to go to D-Chowk?” the information minister asked. “Because they want to cause damage to the life and property of Islamabad’s citizens. They have among them Afghan nationals, terrorists, dacoits.”
In a message shared with supporters from jail by his team, Khan, 72, urged his followers to stay peaceful but to stand firm til the end.
“My message for my team is to fight until the last ball is bowled. We will not back down until our demands are met!”
LOCKDOWN
As thousands of rally goers left for Islamabad on Sunday in protest caravans, authorities shut down major highways leading to the capital and used shipping containers to block major roads and streets inside the city. Mobile Internet links and apps like WhatsApp have been down since the weekend and schools have been closed for several days in the capital and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Last week, the district administration also banned public gatherings in Islamabad for two months, and on Monday, the interior ministry invoked Article 245, calling in the army to maintain law and order.
A round of the federal capital by Arab News on Tuesday afternoon showed that all entry and exit points of the city had been sealed again with shipping containers shortly after protesters removed them to enter the city. The Srinagar Highway, the main artery connecting the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, was littered with stones that protesters had reportedly hurled at security personnel on their way to D-Chowk.
Local residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad could be seen distributing food and water among protesters on the Srinagar Highway while helicopters hovered above.
Protest leader Ali Amin Gandapur, whose caravan had still not reached D-Chowk by Tuesday evening, urged protesters to camp at the square and not advance further into the red zone.
“D-Chowk means D-Chowk,” the chief minister told supporters from atop a truck en route to the public square. “Beyond that, as long as Imran Khan’s orders, Imran Khan’s instructions are not given, we will not go beyond that area and we will respect his instructions.”
Amnesty International called on the Pakistan government to protect and ensure the rights of protesters and “immediately rescind the ‘shoot-on-sight’ orders that provide undue and excessive powers to the military.”
“The severe restrictions on assembly, movement and mobile and Internet services as well as arbitrary detentions of thousands of protesters across Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, are a grave violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, movement and expression,” the rights group said on X.
Pakistani conglomerate Descon announces local incorporation in Saudi Arabia
- Pakistan’s Descon Engineering operates in the engineering, power and chemical sectors
- It has a long-standing strategic partnership with the Olayan Saudi Holding Company
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Descon Engineering, which operates in the engineering, power and chemical sectors, on Tuesday announced the incorporation of Descon Engineering Arabia, a registered entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in partnership with its long-standing strategic partner, Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO.)
OSHCO is a Saudi-based diversified business enterprise with commercial and industrial operations spread across Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa regions. The company’s portfolio includes more than 25 companies operating in five sectors, namely, food and beverages, restaurants, health and personal care, information and communications technology (ICT), and energy.
Descon, a group of companies headquartered in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, is active in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, and South Africa.
“This significant development reaffirms Descon’s continued commitment to the Kingdom and highlights its focus on localization within Saudi Arabia,” Descon said in a statement.
“Through Descon Engineering Arabia, the company is further expanding its regional footprint, reinforcing its position as a trusted and established service provider dedicated to meeting the needs of customers across the Kingdom.”
The company said the “new chapter” had strengthened its resolve to make a broader global impact, ensuring enhanced value delivery to clients in Saudi Arabia, while supporting the development of local talent and capacity building.
“As we establish Descon Engineering Arabia in partnership with OSHCO, we reaffirm our commitment to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its vision for sustainable growth. This step represents a deepening of our long-standing relationship with the region, enabling us to deliver tailored solutions while contributing to local talent development and capacity building,” Taimur Saeed, CEO of Descon Engineering, said.
“We look forward to fostering stronger collaborations and continuing to serve the Kingdom with the reliability and expertise that have defined our journey for nearly five decades.”
Through Descon Engineering Arabia, Descon Engineering is positioned to deliver even greater value, continuing its “dedication to excellence and local growth” for customers in Saudi Arabia and the region, the company added.
Ayub century helps Pakistan crush Zimbabwe, level series
- Ayub struck unbeaten 113 as Pakistan beat Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to level one-day international series with one match to come
- Zimbabwe were all out for 145 at Queens Sports Club as they sought a second victory over the tourists
ZIMBABWE: Saim Ayub struck an unbeaten 113 as Pakistan crushed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in Bulawayo on Tuesday to level a one-day international series with one match to come.
Zimbabwe were all out for 145 at Queens Sports Club as they sought a second victory over the tourists in three days having won by 80 runs in a rain-shortened tour opener.
Pakistan then atoned for a poor batting show on Sunday with Ayub and fellow opener Abdullah Shafique (32 not out) unstoppable as they reached their target in 18.2 overs.
Ayub struck 17 runs and three sixes off 62 balls in a 75-minute stand while Shafique claimed four fours in the southern city.
Ayub reached his century off 53 balls — the second fastest in an ODI international by a Pakistani after Shahid Afridi.
Zimbabwe, seeking a first ODI series win over Pakistan, utilized five bowlers, but none made an impression with Brandon Mavuta, who conceded 47 runs in four overs, particularly expensive.
After winning the toss, Zimbabwe were quickly in trouble with openers Joylord Gumbie (five) and Tadiwanashe Marumani (four) back in the pavilion with less than four overs bowled.
Only Dion Myers, who struck six fours in his 33, and veteran Sean Williams, who posted 31 before being trapped leg before by Ayub, impressed for the home team.
Pakistan-born all-rounder Sikandar Raza, often the batting savior for Zimbabwe, made just 17 before becoming one of three victims of Salman Ali Agha.
Abrar Ahmed took four wickets and Ali Agha three for Pakistan, who arrived in southern Africa after a 3-0 ODI series loss in Australia.
The Zimbabwe ODI series decider is set for Thursday, followed by three Twenty20 internationals from Sunday, also in Bulawayo. Pakistan then visit South Africa for an all-format tour.
VPN demand increased 253% in Pakistan between Nov. 24-26 — Top10VPN
- Pakistani authorities have suspended mobile Internet services and blocked several VPNs amid a protest by PTI opposition party
- Social media platform X has been blocked since February and the government is also moving to implement a national firewall
ISLAMABAD: Top10VPN, an independent VPN review company, said this week VPN demand had more than tripled in Pakistan following the tightening of social media restrictions between Nov. 24-26, days that coincide with the launch of a protest movement by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
Pakistani authorities have suspended mobile Internet services and blocked several VPNs amid a protest launched by supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been jailed since August 2023 on a spate of charges from corruption to terrorism.
The government has been cracking down on VPN use for weeks, with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announcing that businesses and freelancers would be able to legally use VPNs by registering with the government, but unregistered VPNs will be blocked in Pakistan after Nov. 30. Authorities say the measures are meant to deter militants and other suspects who use VPNs to conceal their identities and spread “anti-state propaganda” and promote “blasphemous” or other illegal content online.
Digital rights activists say the move is part of government attempts to block vital tools that allow users to bypass restrictions amid a wave of digital crackdowns, particularly as the use of VPNs has sharply risen in Pakistan since February this year when the government banned X.
“Demand for VPN services initially increased by 102 percent in Pakistan on November 24 compared to the daily average over the 28 days prior,” Top10VPN said in a report.
The PTI had launched its ‘long march’ protest to the federal capital, Islamabad, on Nov. 24.
“VPN demand intensified the next day [Monday], at 253 percent above the baseline on November 25 and continues to remain elevated,” the website added. “The surge followed reports that WhatsApp had been targeted by the authorities, preventing media sharing.”
The federal government is also moving to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda” and terror attacks. Internet speeds have dropped by up to 30-40 percent over the past few months due to the firewall, according to the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP).
In August, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the national firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.” The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), the country’s top representative body for the IT sector, warned last week Internet slowdowns and the restriction of VPN services could lead to financial losses and closures and increase operational costs for the industry by up to $150 million annually.
Pakistan’s IT and ITeS exports have been growing at an average of 30 percent per year, and are on the way to achieve over $15 billion in the next 5 years, according to industry data, provided the government ensures continuity in export, fiscal, financial, SME, infrastructure and IT policies.
“If the VPNs are blocked, most of IT companies, Call Centers, BPO [business process outsourcing] organizations of Pakistan will lose all the major Fortune 500 clients, as well as others – as data protection and cybersecurity are of paramount importance to our clients, and connecting to client systems through VPN is a global norm and standard, and is a basic requirement and expectation of clients around the world,” P@SHA Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed said in a statement released last Tuesday.
“Additionally, no international company of any size tolerates any intrusion into their security protocols by any private or public institution.”
Pakistan army says three militants attempting to infiltrate from Afghan border killed
- Kabul government denies it allows militants to use its soil to attack Pakistan
- Pakistan has seen sharp rise in militant attacks across the country in recent months
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Tuesday it had killed three militants out of a group that had tried to infiltrate its frontier with neighboring Afghanistan in the northwestern North Waziristan district, calling on Kabul to ensure “effective border management” on its side.
Islamabad, facing a sharp rise in militancy in recent months, says the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group uses Afghanistan as a base to launch attacks and that the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group along their shared border. The Taliban government in Kabul denies this.
The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement but pledges loyalty to the group that has ruled Afghanistan after the US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.
“On night 25/26 November, movement of a group of khwarij [militants], who were trying to infiltrate through Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was picked up by the security forces in general area Hassan Khel, North Waziristan District,” the army said in a statement. “Own troops effectively engaged and thwarted their attempt to infiltrate. Resultantly, three Khwarij were sent to hell.”
The statement said Islamabad had “consistently” been asking the Afghan government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border.
“Interim Afghan Government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan,” the army added.
“Security Forces of Pakistan are determined and remain committed to secure its borders and eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country.”
