At least four Pakistanis among 11 dead as migrant vessel sinks off Libyan coast: FO

• Migrant vessel sank near Libya’s Harawa coast, killing 11 people.
• Four Pakistanis from Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin among dead.
• Pakistan’s embassy's Crisis Management Unit monitoring situation.

ISLAMABAD: A vessel carrying foreign nationals sank near the Harawa coast of Sirte in eastern Libya, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Monday, confirming that four Pakistani nationals were among the 11 bodies 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 said in a statement. 

“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 identified Pakistani victims include Zahid Mehmood from Gujranwala and Sameer Ali, Syed Ali Hussain, and Asif Ali — all 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 added. 

“The Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been activated to monitor the situation.”

On February 11, at least 16 Pakistanis were confirmed dead, and 10 others remained missing after a boat carrying illegal migrants met with a deadly accident in the same waters off the Libyan coast.

In the wake of the incident, the FO stated that the Pakistani embassy team went to Zawiya city and confirmed the figures after meeting local officials and hospital authorities.

Fatal sinkings persist

The latest incident adds to the list of migrant boat tragedies resulting in the loss of precious lives, with dozens of Pakistanis drowning in multiple incidents in recent months.

In January, more than 40 Pakistanis were killed after a boat carrying irregular migrants from the African nation of Mauritania to Spain capsized.

The ill-fated boat departed from Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants on board. Moroccan authorities reported that 66 of the passengers were Pakistani nationals and noted that it had rescued 36 people after the accident.

Before that, more than 80 Pakistanis drowned after boats carrying them capsized near Greece on the night between December 13 and 14, 2024.

Driven by socio-economic disparity and the allure of a better lifestyle abroad, illegal migration, despite its risks, continues to draw people to spend a fortune in paying human traffickers to reach Europe.

PM Shehbaz-led government has ordered strict action against smugglers as well as officials involved in facilitating them in this cruel practice.

Since then, as many as 35 Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials have been dismissed, along with a change in the top post after now-former director general Ahmad Ishaq Jahangir was removed from his office over the reportedly slow pace of investigations in the boat capsizing incidents and large-scale illegal migration.

Apart from the government measures, Lahore's Jamia Naeemia has also issued a religious edict 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, said that using illegal means to go abroad is not only unlawful but also violates Shariah.