Pakistan’s mission in Greece has confirmed that five Pakistanis were among the victims of a migrant boat tragedy near the Greek island of Gavdos last week. However, the mission stated it has no solid information about how many Pakistani nationals are still missing.
A local news channel claimed that at least 40 Pakistanis had died in the incident, citing the embassy in Athens.
An official from Pakistan’s mission in Greece clarified, “We have confirmed five Pakistani deaths and 47 survivors. We have no concrete information about the missing persons, and this is the final update at this time.”
He added that the authorities had ended their special search operation but would continue regular patrolling. Greek authorities will keep the Pakistani mission informed about any new findings.
Responding to the media report, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said the government had already shared the official death toll and had no further details.
“We can’t comment on claims about the number of Pakistanis onboard unless there’s evidence from the investigation,” she stated, explaining that verifying such claims is difficult as there’s no official record of their travel.
The tragedy has highlighted the issue of human trafficking. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered strict measures to tackle the problem and demanded a detailed report on human trafficking involving Pakistani citizens this year.
