By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed grief over the death of four Pakistani nationals in a boat capsizing incident in Libya, reiterating his government’s commitment to act against human traffickers.
“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 wrote on his X timeline.
He said that Pakistan’s Mission in Tripoli and the Foreign Office were working with the local authorities to retrieve the remains of the deceased.
“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,” he reiterated.
Earlier, the Foreign Office, in a statement, said that among the Pakistani nationals killed in the boat tragedy were: Zahid Mehmood s/o Liaqat Ali, a resident of Gujranwala with passport No. LY0161441, and three residents of a Mandi Bahauddin includign Sameer Ali s/o Raja Abdul Qadeer (passport No. RS1825681), Syed Ali Hussain s/o Shafqat ul Hussnain (Passport No. JG6912511) and Asif Ali s/o Nazar Muhammad (Passport No. RS1825681).
The foreign ministry has also activated its Crisis Management Unit to monitor the situation.
Earlier, The foreign office spokesperson on Tuesday confirmed four Pakistanis have been killed in a shipwreck near the coast of eastern Libya, adding that more information is being collected about the affected nationals.
Pakistan’s mission in Tripoli reported that a vessel carrying foreign nationals sunk near the Harawa coast in Sirte City, the foreign office spokesperson said.
The statement said a Pakistan embassy team’s visit to Sirte City confirmed 11 bodies of migrants have been recovered from the shipwreck. “Of these, 4 have been identified as Pakistani nationals based on their national documents,” the spokesperson said. “Two bodies remain unidentified.”
The statement identified Zahid Mehmood, Sameer Ali, Syed Ali Hussain and Asad Ali as the four victims of the shipwreck. Three of the victims hailed from Pakistan’s eastern city of Mandi Bahauddin while Mehmood belonged to Gujranwala, as per details shared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The Embassy in Tripoli is actively working to gather more information about the affected Pakistani nationals and is in contact with the local authorities,” the spokesperson said.
The statement said Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry has activated its Crisis Management Unit to monitor the situation.
Each year, thousands of Pakistanis pay large sums for risky and illegal journeys to developed countries, hoping to find work and send money back to their families.
Libyan authorities recovered the bodies of at least 16 Pakistani nationals who had died in a shipwreck near the coast of Libya in February this year, while nearly 10 other Pakistani citizens were missing.
The boat had capsized near the port of Marsa Dela in the northwest of Zawiya city in the Arab country.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pakistan has cracked down and arrested several human traffickers for arranging these dangerous, illegal sea journeys for Pakistani citizens.