Raja Pervaiz Ashraf urges govt to take action against human smugglers
ISLAMABAD, June 17 (SABAH): National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on Saturday urged the government to “immediately investigate” the capsizing of a fishing boat earlier this week in Greece that killed at least 78 people, with Pakistanis feared to be among the dead.
On Wednesday, an overloaded boat — with around 750 people on board according to a European rescue support charity — sank in open seas off Greece.
As a painstaking search for survivors continued, 104 people were found alive, with 12 Pakistanis among them, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed on Saturday.
In a tweet, it said, “At this stage, we are unable to verify the number and identity of Pakistani nationals among the deceased.
“The Pakistan Embassy in Greece remains in contact with local authorities for the identification and recovery of Pakistani nationals,” the FO added.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Pakistan Embassy in Greece requested Pakistanis who feared their relatives to be on the capsized boat to send DNA samples for the identification of the bodies.
A short tandem repeat (STR) DNA report of the parents or children of the missing person from a recognised laboratory, along with the missing person’s identity card or passport number should be sent to the Embassy’s email address, the statement added.
Chairing the National Assembly session on Saturday, Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said, “I think this is an extremely reprehensible act in which innocent people are made to face such situations by deceiving them of taking them abroad.”
He went on to urge the government to “take immediate notice and action” on the matter, adding that those involved in the “heinous act should be given an exemplary punishment” so that such a crime does not take place in the future.
The NA speaker’s statement came in response to Jamaat-e-Islami’s MNA Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali’s concerns over the matter.
Speaking on the National Assembly floor, Maulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali said that reports had been circulating in the media that 310 Pakistanis had drowned in the incident. “According to eyewitnesses, only 18 people [out of those] could be saved,” he said.
The Jamaat-i-Islami leader demanded that a report be produced that would include the details of those missing and who the human smugglers behind this were. “Why isn’t action taken against them (smugglers) and why is the foreign ministry still failing in this?”
“Such incidents are extremely dangerous for the country. What are our agencies doing? There are 25-26 agencies,” he questioned.