At least 44 Pakistanis dead after migrant boat capsises in Atlantic

Dubai: Around 50 Pakistani nationals have tragically lost their lives in a migrant boat tragedy while attempting to cross the Atlantic Ocean illegally en route to Europe, according to an NGO and the victims’ families.

The boat, carrying 86 migrants including 66 Pakistanis, departed from Mauritania, a West African country, bound for Spain’s Canary Islands. The migrant rights organisation Walking Borders reported the news on Thursday.

The Pakistani Foreign Office (FO) confirmed in a statement on X that the boat, which had 80 passengers on board, capsized off the coast of the disputed region of Western Sahara. The FO also noted that several survivors, including Pakistanis, were taken to a camp near Dakhla. The embassy in Rabat has been in contact with local authorities and has dispatched a team to assist the survivors and facilitate the repatriation of Pakistani nationals.

Helena Maleno, CEO of Walking Borders, stated on social media that Moroccan authorities rescued 36 survivors on Wednesday. She added that 44 of the presumed victims who drowned were from Pakistan. The boat had been stranded in the ocean for 13 days before the rescue operation. However, the exact cause of the deaths remains unclear.

Crisis Management Unit

The Pakistan Foreign Office activated its Crisis Management Unit, with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar directing government agencies to provide all necessary assistance to the affected Pakistanis.

Torture claims

However, some of the victims’ families have claimed that their loved ones died as a result of torture during their journey. These allegations surfaced in phone calls between survivors and relatives, although the claims remain unverified. One survivor reported to his family that migrants were physically assaulted by local authorities, with some individuals allegedly struck with hammers.

The survivors were hospitalised in Morocco, where the bodies of eight Pakistani victims were also being stored.

According to reports in Pakistani media, a group of young men from Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts of Punjab had left Pakistan four months ago, attempting to enter Europe illegally. According to the survivors, only 19 individuals made it through the harrowing 13-day ordeal, which saw them stranded in open waters. Of those, eight bodies were brought to shore, while the rest were reportedly discarded in the sea.

At least 12 of the deceased are believed to have been from three villages—Dhola, Jaura Karnana, and Ghurko—in Kharian. The survivors and relatives of the victims are now urging the Pakistani government to take action and repatriate the bodies of the deceased.

Prime Minister orders inquiry

In response to the tragedy, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif instructed authorities to investigate the incident and take strict action against those involved in human trafficking. "No negligence will be tolerated in this matter. Strong steps are being taken against human trafficking," he said in a statement.

The incident occurred in the Western Sahara region, an area where non-state actors are active due to ongoing tensions between local pro-independence forces and the Moroccan government.

Walking Borders said it had alerted the relevant authorities about the missing boat six days ago. The NGO Alarm Phone, which operates an emergency hotline for migrants in distress, also reported the boat’s plight to Spain’s maritime rescue service on January 12.