Human trafficking: Another Pakistani killed in Greece

 Sunday 15 December 2024

Islamabad (Point News Today / Pakistan Point News - DW News - December 15, 2024) Greek authorities have confirmed that a group of migrants on a wooden boat were trying to illegally reach Greece, but five people, including a Pakistani, were killed in an accident that occurred on the boat.

Authorities have said that immediate rescue operations were carried out after the accident, thanks to which forty-nine Pakistanis have also been rescued.

It has been reported that several people are still missing, whose search is ongoing.

The coast guard has said that they came to know about the accident on Friday night, after which rescue operations have been ongoing.

German-British agreement signed to stop human smuggling

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Another incident of an attempt to illegally reach Greece was also reported on Saturday, in which a Maltese cargo ship rescued forty-seven migrants.

Similarly, in another incident, eighty-eight people were rescued while trying to reach an island in southern Greece.

According to initial information, these people had boarded boats from Libya and set off for Greece.

Human trafficking issue to be tackled, Pakistan

The President, Prime Minister and Federal Interior Minister have expressed deep regret over the death of a Pakistani citizen as a result of these recent incidents in Greece and said that efforts will be intensified to stop human trafficking.

President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, while describing human trafficking as a heinous act, said that the government should intensify efforts to deal with it. He also expressed grief and sorrow with the family of the Pakistani who died in Greece.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed regret over this latest development and issued instructions to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to formulate an effective strategy to prevent such incidents.

Mohsin Naqvi later said that human trafficking is an intolerable crime, while people involved in this trafficking network have destroyed many houses. He added that the Federal Investigation Agency will take immediate action to crack down on this mafia.

Why do immigrants go to Greece?

In 2015 and 2016, Greece was the European Union's favorite gateway for immigrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, during which time about 1 million people landed on various Greek islands.

Eight immigrants, including six children, died after a boat capsized in the Aegean Sea

Thousands of immigrants try to swim from Morocco to Spain

Most immigrants reach Greece by sea from Turkey and Libya and then try to reach the richest countries of the European Union, Germany, France or Spain.

Migrant boat and shipwrecks near Crete and its small neighbor, Gouves, have increased in the past year.

In 2023, hundreds of migrants drowned when a boat sank near the southwestern coastal town of Pylos in Greece. It was one of the deadliest boat accidents in the Mediterranean Sea.

A B / A S (AFP, AP, Reuters)