As many as 50 migrants, including 44 Pakistanis, are feared drowned after a boat traveling from Mauritania to Spain capsized, according to the migrant rights group Walking Borders. Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people from the boat, which departed on January 2 with 86 passengers. The group had alerted authorities about the missing boat six days before the tragedy, but no rescue efforts materialized in time.
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Relatives of the victims revealed that human traffickers had anchored the boat and demanded additional money from passengers. The NGO Alarm Phone reported notifying Spain’s maritime rescue service on January 12, but the service claimed it had no information on the vessel. Walking Borders’ CEO Helena Maleno criticized the delayed response, stating that the victims endured 13 days at sea without rescue.
This incident highlights a growing crisis, as a record 10,457 migrants died attempting to reach Spain in 2024, with many perishing on the Atlantic route from West Africa to the Canary Islands. Pakistani authorities confirmed the tragedy, activating a Crisis Management Unit and dispatching a team to Dakhla, Morocco, to assist survivors. The Pakistani Foreign Office vowed to provide all possible support to affected nationals.
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Pakistani leaders, including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, expressed grief over the loss of lives and pledged stricter measures against human smuggling. The PM called for immediate action against those involved in the tragedy, emphasizing that negligence in addressing the issue would not be tolerated. This incident follows a similar tragedy in December 2024, when over 80 Pakistanis drowned off the coast of Greece.
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