OVER 40 PAKISTANIS AMONG PRESUMED DEAD AS BOAT CAPSIZES NEAR MOROCCO

Fri 17 January 2025:

A migrant boat carrying 80 passengers capsized near Morocco, with over 40 Pakistanis reportedly among those presumed dead, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) confirmed on Thursday.

. The incident of boat capsizing took place off the Coast of Morocco, while attempting to reach Spain by boat from West Africa. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed deep sorrow and regret over the death of more than 40 Pakistanis in the boat accident.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson in a statement on Thursday said that the Embassy of Pakistan in Rabat Morocco has informed that a boat carrying 80 passengers, including several Pakistani nationals, setting off from Mauritania, has capsized near the Moroccan port of Dakhla.

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Several survivors, including Pakistanis, are lodged in a camp near Dakhla. The statement added that the Pakistani Embassy in Rabat is in touch with local authorities. Additionally, a team from the Embassy has been dispatched to Dakhla to facilitate the Pakistani nationals and provide necessary assistance.

On the other hand, the Crisis Management Unit (CMU) in the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad has been activated and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister has instructed the relevant Government agencies to extend all possible facilitation to the affected Pakistanis.

As per media reports, Moroccan authorities on Wednesday rescued 36 people from a boat that had departed from Mauritania on January 2. The boat had carried 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis.

The boat left for Spain on January 2, relatives of the drowned Pakistani migrants have said. According to them, the human traffickers had anchored the boat in the sea and were demanding more money from them.

Walking Borders CEO Helena Maleno claimed on X that 44 of those who drowned were from Pakistan. “They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to rescue them,” she said.

Spain’s maritime rescue service said it had learned on Jan 10 about a vessel that had left Nouakchott in Mauritania and was experiencing problems but it could not confirm if it was the same boat.

The service said it had carried out air searches without success and had warned nearby ships.

Walking Borders said it had alerted authorities from all countries involved six days ago about the missing boat. Alarm Phone, an NGO that provides an emergency phone line for migrants lost at sea, also said it had alerted Spain’s maritime rescue service on Jan 12 about a boat in distress.

A record 10,457 migrants, or 30 people a day, died trying to reach Spain in 2024, most while attempting to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries such as Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands, according to Walking Borders.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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