Pakistan widens manhunt for human traffickers after boat carrying a whole lot sank off Greek coast

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan on Monday widened its manhunt for human traffickers after a tragedy off the Greek coast final week that left greater than 500 migrants feared drowned, together with many Pakistanis, officers stated.

With no definitive casualty numbers introduced, households feared for the destiny of their family members and the nation noticed a day of mourning Monday, declared by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s authorities.

The Pakistani flag was flying at half-staff, and lawmakers within the National Assembly, the decrease home of the parliament, expressed their condolences.

The fishing trawler filled with migrants overturned and went down early Wednesday off southwestern Greece in one of many deadliest-ever incidents within the central Mediterranean Sea. The vessel was carrying as many as 750 individuals, together with scores of Pakistanis, when it sank in worldwide waters. A search-and-rescue operation has since been underway.

Pakistan’s Embassy in Athens has thus far recognized 12 Pakistani nationals rescued by the coast guard.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan stated the nation’s Federal Investigation Agency launched a crackdown in opposition to human smugglers, arresting key suspects within the jap metropolis of Lahore and Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province.

“All the people involved in this tragedy will be brought to justice,” the minister pledged in a press release, including thet Sharif’s authorities will additional toughen present legal guidelines to incorporate harsh punishments for human traffickers.

So far, authorities have detained practically two dozen suspects, together with two key suspected traffickers in Pakistan, and a minimum of 12 individuals concerned in sending younger males to Libya for the onward journey to Europe.

Senior Pakistani officer Khalid Chauhan stated Sunday that police picked up the suspects amid the crackdown on traffickers and have been interrogating them for his or her alleged roles in luring, trapping and extracting enormous quantities of cash to ship the boys overseas.

Abdul Jabbar, a prime official on the Federal Investigation Agency, appealed to households of those that died within the boat incident or went lacking to come back ahead and share details about the smugglers.

He promised the households of the victims wouldn’t be arrested however “rather they will be treated as victims” themselves.