https://arab.news/wgsgv
- Chaudhry Salik Hussain says government signing agreements with other states for legal migration means
- Pakistan said 13 bodies from January 16 boat tragedy had been identified following verification process
ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani minister said on Wednesday night the government was working to set up legal means for the youth to go abroad and make a living after the bodies of four nationals who died in a boat capsizing near Morocco last month while trying to reach Europe arrived in Islamabad, according to state media.
The Pakistani government has made several arrests of suspected human smugglers in recent weeks after the boat carrying 86 migrants to Europe, including several Pakistanis, capsized on Jan. 16, according to the rights group Walking Borders.
Moroccan authorities said a day later that 36 people had been rescued, while Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed that 22 of them were its nationals. Pakistani officials said earlier this week that 13 bodies had been identified following an extensive verification process.
“I have no words to express my pain and feeling over this incident,” Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain was quoted as saying by the Associated Press of Pakistan, as the bodies of the four Pakistani nationals arrived at Islamabad International Airport.
He said his ministry was working to create legal avenues for employment abroad to prevent such tragedies.
“Our ministry is creating many opportunities for the youth by setting up offices at the local level so that the middlemen mafia can be eliminated,” he added.
Hussain said the government was signing agreements with several countries to facilitate legal migration pathways and prevent human smuggling networks from exploiting desperate job seekers.
The latest boat disaster is part of a growing trend of dangerous sea journeys by migrants seeking to reach developed countries.
In June 2023, an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the Greek town of Pylos, killing hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, in one of the deadliest Mediterranean shipwrecks on record.
More recently, five Pakistani nationals died in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Gavdos on Dec. 14.