Around 50 Pakistanis die as boat carrying 86 sink in Atlantic, vessel left Mauritania on Jan 2

As many as 50 Pakistanis have died after a migrant boat capsized as it tried to cross the Atlantic Ocean to reach Europe illegally. Migrants rights group Walking Borders said that the boat, carrying 86 migrants including 66 Pakistanis, had left Mauritania for Spain’s Canary Islands earlier this month.

Walking Borders CEO Helena Maleno said that of the 86 people, 36 migrants were rescued while 44 Pakistanis drowned in the sea. The migrant boat was stranded in the ocean for 13 days.

In a post on X, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said that the boat capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla. “Several survivors, including Pakistanis, are lodged in a camp near Dakhla. Our embassy in Rabat is in touch with local authorities. Additionally, a team from the embassy has been dispatched to Dakhla to facilitate the Pakistani nationals and provide necessary assistance,” it added.

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Press Release

Incident of boat capsizing off the coast of Morocco pic.twitter.com/0ZNvrjWf4m

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) January 16, 2025

Families of victims claim torture

According to a report by Dawn, families of the victims have alleged that their loved ones died due to torture. Recordings of telephone conversations between survivors and their relatives reveal that the migrants were “physically tortured” and “hit by hammer” by local officials.

One survivor said that the wounded migrants were being treated at a hospital in Morocco and that the bodies of the eight Pakistani victims were also kept there.

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Sources told the Pakistani newspaper that several young people from the Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts of Punjab left the country four months ago to enter Europe illegally. Only 19 of those people survived the 13-day ordeal.

PM Sharif reacts

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that strict action would be taken against people involved in human trafficking.

“No negligence of any kind will be tolerated in this regard. Strong steps are being taken against human trafficking,” he said in a statement.