Islamabad — In the remote village of Bandli, nestled high in the mountains of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, local officials were circulating a somber list on Friday. The list contained the names of 11 men who had gone missing. These men are believed to be among the hundreds of individuals who boarded a fishing boat that sank off the coast of Greece last week, as they attempted to reach European soil from thousands of miles away.
This maritime disaster has been cited as one of the deadliest in Europe in decades.
The men from Bandli were part of a group estimated to range from 400 to 750 people from various countries, including Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria, who were packed onto the fishing boat when it sank approximately 50 miles from Pylos, a southern Greek town, on June 14.
Pakistan has been grappling with a severe economic crisis for months, driving an increasing number of people to risk their lives in search of a better future in Europe.
CBS News’ partner network BBC sent a team from its World Service, Urdu channel to Bundli, where they met Raja Anwar on the rooftop of his house, staring blankly at the gate. Anwar’s 38-year-old son, Abdul, had sent him a message indicating that he was boarding the ill-fated boat in Libya just before it departed on June 14.
“We had to take a significant loan of 22 lakhs ($8,000) from our extended family to fund his journey,” Anwar told the BBC. He expressed that his village has lost a young generation of men, including his son and four nephews, with the youngest being only 19-year-old Owais Tariq. All these men, except one, were married with young children, according to Anwar.
The fishing boat they boarded was overcrowded, with a capacity for far fewer people. When it became clear that it was sinking, the captain reportedly abandoned ship, leaving the passengers to their fate. Out of the hundreds on board – including many children, according to some reports – only 104 were rescued. Greek authorities have recovered 82 bodies thus far.
Pakistan seems to have had the highest number of nationals on board the ill-fated vessel. The country’s Interior Minister, Rana Sanaullah, informed parliament on Friday that at least 350 Pakistanis were among the passengers. Additionally, 281 families have reached out to the government seeking assistance and information regarding their missing loved ones.
An additional 193 Pakistani families have undergone DNA testing to potentially identify the remains of the victims or to create records for the still-missing individuals following the shipwreck.
Pakistan has arrested several individuals involved in human trafficking and their agents. According to these detainees, their ringleader operated out of Libya, the country from which the boat set sail along the North African coast.
The human smugglers reportedly charged around $8,000 per person to facilitate the illegal journey of Pakistani nationals to Europe via the perilous Mediterranean route from Libya. This sea crossing has become increasingly busy as European countries focus on sealing their land borders. The migrants had been legally flown to Dubai, Egypt, and directly to Libya before commencing the hazardous journey.
An official investigation is currently underway to identify and apprehend any additional individuals involved in human smuggling. Interior Minister Sanaullah stated that the government is actively working to recommend amendments to existing laws to enhance the chances of successful convictions in such cases.
Sanaullah highlighted the concerning fact that not a single human trafficker has been convicted in Pakistan for over five years. He attributed this mainly to the victims’ families agreeing to pardons in exchange for monetary compensation.
The potential impact of efforts to address irregular migration in Pakistan remains uncertain due to the country’s significant economic challenges. Pakistan is grappling with an alarming inflation rate of 38%. The government has implemented drastic measures to avoid a national default but these measures have had a substantial negative impact on domestic growth and employment. The industrial sector, Pakistan’s economic powerhouse, has contracted by almost 3% in the current financial year. With a population of over 230 million and a continuously growing labor force, the country is under immense strain.
Official unemployment data has not been published in two years. However, renowned economist Hafeez Pasha, a former finance minister recognized for his work on Pakistan’s labor issues, estimates the unemployment rate to be at a record “11-12%, conservatively.”
According to the European border agency Frontex, Pakistan currently has the third-highest number of nationals registering as arriving asylum seekers in Italy, trailing only Egypt and Bangladesh.
Frontex data, recorded since 2009, reveals that a record 4,971 Pakistanis attempted the central Mediterranean crossing to Italy in a single year, up until May.
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