A boat tragedy in Spain claims the lives of 44 Pakistani refugees.
The latest catastrophic disaster involving migrants attempting to travel from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands is thought to have drowned up to 50 migrants, including 44 Pakistanis, according to a statement released on Thursday by the migrant rights organization Walking Borders.
36 people were rescued by Moroccan police on Wednesday from a boat carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, that had departed Mauritania on January 2, according to the group.
“On X, Walking Borders CEO Helena Maleno stated that 44 of the people thought to have drowned were from Pakistan.”
“They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” she explained.
Several survivors, including some Pakistanis, were evacuated to a camp close to the port of Dakhla after the boat capsized off the coast of the disputed Western Sahara territory, according to a post on X by Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.
According to Pakistan, the boat had eighty people on board. Twelve young Gujarat natives were among the dead.
In response to a question about what alerts it had gotten from non-governmental organizations about a missing boat, Spain’s maritime rescue service stated that it had been informed on January 10 about a boat that had departed Nouakchott in Mauritania and was having issues, but it was unable to verify whether it was the same boat.
According to the service, it had informed surrounding ships and conducted unsuccessful air searches.
Walking Borders reported that it had reported the missing boat to police in all participating nations six days prior.
On January 12, Spain’s maritime rescue department received a call about a distressed boat from Alarm Phone, an NGO that offers an emergency phone line for migrants who are trapped at sea.
In 2024, a record 10,457 migrants—or 30 individuals every day—died while trying to enter Spain, the most of them while trying to go across the Atlantic from West African nations like Senegal and Mauritania to the Canary Islands, according to Walking Borders.
Regional head for the Canary Islands Fernando Clavijo said he was saddened by the recent wreck and called on Spain and Europe to take action to stop other tragedies, citing the Walking Borders’ statement on X.
Clavijo stated on X that “Africa cannot continue to be buried in the Atlantic.” “They cannot continue to turn their backs on this humanitarian drama.”
A crisis response center is established by the FO.
The local government and the Pakistani Embassy in Rabat are in communication. In order to assist the Pakistani citizens and give the required support, an Embassy team has also been sent to Dakhla.
Additionally, the Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Management Unit has been created, and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has directed the pertinent government agencies to provide the impacted Pakistanis with all the assistance they can.
The Ministry’s Crisis Management Unit and Rabat focal points can be reached at the following number:
The number is 051-9207887.
Email address: cmu1@mofa.gov.pk.
PM requests a report.
In addition to seeking a report from the appropriate authorities, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered his sympathies for the unfortunate deaths of Pakistanis in a migrant boat tragedy in Spain.
In response to the boat disaster that involved migrants going from West Africa to Spain, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed profound sadness and remorse, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
In addition to offering condolences to the families of those killed in the disaster, the prime minister prayed for the souls of the fallen to be raised.
The prime minister requested a report from the appropriate authorities and stressed that anyone responsible for the horrible crime of human trafficking will face severe consequences, the statement added.
Greece boat mishap
Six passengers were killed in the boat accident off the Greek coast, according to confirmation from Pakistan’s embassy in Greece last month.
The embassy announced in a statement that the deceased had been named Abdullah, Sufyan, Rehman, Abid, and Ahmed.
The ambassador of Pakistan to Greece, Amir Aftab Qureshi, told the media the other day that 84 Pakistanis were on board the doomed vessel.