At present a crackdown is underway to nab those behind the tragic boat accident near the coast of Greece: Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD, June 23 (SABAH): Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan has assured to take a firm action against those involved in the illegal business of human trafficking.

Speaking in the National Assembly on Friday on the recent boat capsizing incident near the coast of Greece wherein Pakistani migrants also lost lives, Rana Sanaullah Khan said a high level inquiry committee has been constituted which will suggest different recommendations including amendments in the legislation to ensure conviction of the human traffickers. He said at present a crackdown is underway to nab those behind the tragic boat accident near the coast of Greece.

The Interior Minister informed the House that around 350 Pakistani migrants were aboard the boat. He said 12 Pakistanis survived the tragedy. He said 82 bodies of those aboard the boat have so far been recovered and their identification process is underway with the help of the forensic and NADRA data.

The Interior Minister said special desks have been established to contact the affected families so far 281 families have contacted these desks. He said 193 DNA samples have so far been collected to complete the identification process.

Furthermore, he informed the National Assembly that approximately 99 percent of individuals who departed for Europe so far did so through “legal means.” However, upon reaching countries such as Egypt, UAE, and Libya, they tend to opt for illegal routes.

Rana Sanaullah revealed that the prime minister had established a “high-level committee” to investigate the incident, highlighting that the committee was focused on three key areas to trace the individuals responsible.

He also pointed out existing loopholes in the laws, emphasising the scarcity of convictions in similar incidents over the past five years. Rana Sanaullah expressed concern that even in cases where charges were filed, suspects often secured release on bail, while families entered settlements, resulting in an alarmingly low conviction rate.

The minister stated that amendments to the laws were under consideration to ensure that those involved in human trafficking and employing illicit means to send people abroad would face appropriate punishment.

He stated that the issue was being addressed with specific countries that had issued visas to individuals who were not relevant to the intended purpose, and who subsequently continued their journey through unauthorised routes.

“I assure the house that we will spare no efforts, and a comprehensive set of recommendations will be proposed by the probe committee, which the government will diligently implement,” he affirmed.

He pledged that those engaged in this heinous business would be punished according to the law.

Besides, the Interior Minister said that those involved in attacking military installations and desecrating martyrs’ memorials must be brought to justice. He said the nation has no sympathies with the gangsters involved in the May 9 incidents and wants them to be brought to justice.

Rana Sanaullah said the decision of the Supreme Court bench, hearing the petitions against trials of civilians in military courts, should be in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Pakistan.

Meanwhile the Chair directed the power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to carry out load shedding as per the schedule, saying strict action will be taken on unannounced outages.

He gave the ruling following MNA and Public Accounts Committee Chairman Noor Alam Khan alluded to the problems faced by the people due to load shedding in the scorching heat.

In his remarks on the occasion, Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain said the previous government of PML-N brought the power outages to Zero by installing several power plants.

He regretted that the PTI government in its tenure halted the progress on new power plants. He said more electricity has been added to the system over the last one year because of the efforts of the present government.

Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah said the country cannot afford expensive electricity. He said we will have to focus on exploiting the potential of coal, hydel, wind and solar to produce cheap electricity. The Minister emphasized for enhanced allocation for hydro power projects saying it will put the country on the path of development.