Greece boat disaster: Number of missing Kotli residents surges to 166

• 88 more families of the boat victims contact authorities, says DIG.  
• Heirs of the boat victims do not come forward due to fear, he adds. 
• Some of missing people are in jail or under investigation, says police.  

With 88 more youths, the number of missing people from Azad Jammu and Kashmir's (AJK) Kotli district has surged to 166 in the boat tragedy off the coast of Greece on June 12-13, confirmed Mirpur Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Dr Khalid Mahmood Chauhan on Monday.

The DIG revealed that 88 more families of the boat victims have contacted them, adding that data of 50 other people was compiled at the local level with the help of local residents.

Soon after the tragic incident of the shipwreck, the families of 28 youths had contacted them, he added. The police officer said that 166 residents of Kotli were reportedly missing so far in the migrant boat incident. He feared that the number could further rise in the coming days.

“The heirs of the boat victims do not come forward due to fear of law [legal action],” observed the police officer. He urged the people to provide the details of their children onboard the ill-fated boat and assured that the police will help them in finding their beloved.

“Some of the missing people are still in Greece jails and some are under investigation,” he added.

European authorities don't have a clear idea about the number of people aboard the boat when it sank — estimates range from 400 to over 700 — but likely hundreds came from Pakistan and AJK.

Thousands of Pakistanis attempt to reach Europe illegally each year in search of a better life abroad, and there is an established network of people smugglers capitalising on their dreams.

‘82 bodies of Pakistanis recovered’

On June 23, the interior minister said that 12 Pakistanis were rescued in the accident, where the boat with a capacity of 400 people had carried 700 people.

"The number of Pakistanis on the boat found so far is 350," he said, adding that, perhaps, not as many lives were lost in any terrorist incident.

He further said that 82 bodies had been removed from the sea, and the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) teams are trying to identify them through DNA.

The minister said special desks have been established to contact the affected families. "So far 281 families have contacted these desks."

He shared that the bodies of the deceased can be brought back after the identification process is complete.

Pakistan criticises migration policies

Pakistan and several African nations called for more protections for migrants at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday (today) following the shipwreck off the Greek coast.

Pakistan, which had 350 of its nationals aboard the ship that capsized and sank, said the incident was a "grim reminder of the protection gaps".

"The human cost of such a status quo is unacceptable," Pakistan's deputy permanent ambassador, Zaman Mehdi, told the 47-member council in unusually frank comments. "Gaps in responsibility sharing, arrangements for the safe and timely search and rescue, disembarkation of all people rescued at sea and accountability must be plugged in the spirit of solidarity."

The envoy for Gambia, a country from which many migrants depart on perilous journeys towards Europe, said that the issue required "urgent attention".

Felipe Gonzalez Morales, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Migration, called on states to end the criminalisation of irregular migrants and find regular pathways for them.

He also reiterated a call made by hundreds of NGOs for the rights body to create a new international investigative body looking at human rights abuses committed against migrants. The idea is being discussed as part of the ongoing council session in Geneva. 

— Additional input from Reuters