A vessel carrying foreign nationals sank near the Harawa coast of Sirte in eastern Libya, the Foreign Office (FO) reported on Monday, confirming that four Pakistani nationals were among the eleven bodies that have been recovered.
“Our mission in Tripoli has reported that a vessel carrying foreign nationals has sunk near the Harawa coast, Sirte city (Eastern Libya),” the FO stated in a press release.
“A Pakistan embassy team’s visit to Sirte has confirmed the recovery of 11 bodies of migrants. Of these, four have been identified as Pakistani nationals based on their national documents. Two bodies remain unidentified.”
The Pakistani victims who have been identified are Zahid Mehmood from Gujranwala, and Sameer Ali, Syed Ali Hussain, and Asif Ali, all hailing from Mandi Bahauddin.
“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 statement further added. “The Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been activated to monitor the situation.”
This tragic incident follows a similar one on February 11, where at least sixteen Pakistanis were confirmed dead, and ten others remained missing after a boat carrying undocumented migrants met with a fatal accident in the same waters off the Libyan coast.
Following the February incident, the FO had stated that the Pakistani embassy team visited Zawiya city and confirmed the figures after engaging with local officials and hospital authorities.
Fatal Sinkings Persist
This latest tragedy adds to the grim tally of migrant boat sinkings resulting in the loss of numerous lives, with dozens of Pakistanis having drowned in multiple incidents in recent months.
In January, over forty Pakistanis perished after a boat carrying irregular migrants from the African nation of Mauritania to Spain capsized.
The ill-fated vessel had departed from Mauritania on January 2 with eighty-six migrants on board. Moroccan authorities reported that sixty-six of the passengers were Pakistani nationals and noted that they had rescued thirty-six individuals after the accident.
Prior to that, more than eighty Pakistanis drowned after the boats they were traveling in capsized near Greece on the night between December 13 and 14, 2024.
Driven by socio-economic disparities and the allure of a better life overseas, illegal migration, despite its inherent dangers, continues to entice individuals to spend significant sums paying human traffickers for passage to Europe.
The government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz has ordered stringent action against smugglers, as well as officials found to be facilitating this cruel practice.
Since then, thirty-five officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have been dismissed, and a change in leadership occurred with the removal of the former director general Ahmad Ishaq Jahangir, reportedly due to the slow progress of investigations into the boat capsizing incidents and large-scale illegal migration.
In addition to government measures, Lahore’s Jamia Naeemia has also issued a religious edict (fatwa) against the use of illegal means to travel abroad from Pakistan.
The religious decree, issued by Dr. Mufti Raghib Hussain Naeemi and Mufti Imran Hanfi, stated that using illegal means to go abroad is not only unlawful but also violates Shariah (Islamic law).
