ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday vowed strong action against human smugglers who entice Pakistani nationals with promises of better economic prospects abroad, risking their lives at sea, as the country confirmed the deaths of four citizens in a boat tragedy off the coast of Libya.
Sharif’s remarks came after officials confirmed that a migrant vessel had sunk off Libya’s Harawa coast, leaving at least 11 people dead, including four Pakistani nationals.
Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in Tripoli said the victims were identified through national documents recovered from the scene.
“Deeply saddened by reports from our Mission in Tripoli of yet another boat capsizing incident off the Harawa coast near Sirte City, Eastern Libya, in which at least four Pakistanis have been confirmed dead out of 11 casualties,” the prime minister said in a post on social media.
“Our Mission and the Foreign Office are working with the local authorities to retrieve the remains of the deceased,” he added. “While we are taking strong action against those responsible for luring our citizens into this death trap, we will continue to come down hard against such elements so no family has to carry the coffins of their loved ones in such accidents.”
The foreign office identified the victims as Zahid Mehmood from Gujranwala and Sameer Ali, Syed Ali Hussain and Asad Ali from Mandi Bahauddin in eastern Pakistan after the tragedy.
Two additional bodies recovered from the shipwreck remain unidentified, officials said, as the Crisis Management Unit at the foreign ministry continues to monitor the situation.
Each year, thousands of Pakistanis embark on perilous journeys across land and sea in search of work in Europe, often falling prey to human smugglers who arrange illegal crossings for large sums of money.
The Libya route remains one of the most trafficked and dangerous passages.
In February, Libyan authorities recovered the bodies of at least 16 Pakistani nationals after a similar boat tragedy off the coast near Zawiya city, with nearly 10 others reported missing.
Last year, over 260 Pakistanis drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the coast of Pylos, Greece, one of the deadliest Mediterranean disasters in recent history.
Pakistani authorities have since intensified efforts to dismantle trafficking networks, arresting several agents and cracking down on operations that facilitate such illegal migration.
