Ten Pakistani victims of Greek shipwreck laid to rest after bodies repatriated

Ten Pakistani victims of a migrant shipwreck off the coast of Greece in June have been laid to rest after their bodies were repatriated. (AFP/File)

• Authorities estimate more than 350 Pakistanis were aboard ill-fated vessel
• 200 families have provided DNA samples to help identify lost loved ones

ISLAMABAD: Ten Pakistani victims of a migrant shipwreck off the coast of Greece in June have been laid to rest after their bodies were repatriated, an official told Arab News on Friday, with several families still awaiting the remains of their loved ones.
The trawler carrying migrants from Libya to Italy sank off the coast of Greece on June 14. There were 104 survivors out of a total of at least 750 illegal migrants on the overcrowded boat, most of them from Pakistan, Syria and Egypt.
Pakistan has estimated over 350 of its nationals were on the fishing vessel while about 200 families have given DNA samples to the Pakistan Embassy in Greece to help identify the bodies of family members being kept at morgues there.
So far, 15 of the victims have been identified as Pakistani nationals.
Asr Ejaz, a spokesperson for the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation that works for the welfare of about 9 million overseas Pakistanis and their families, said the remains of 10 were repatriated on Thursday and buried in their hometowns.
“Three other bodies will be repatriated on July 23 and two others on July 25,” Ejaz told Arab News. “The welfare department of the overseas foundation has been looking into the repatriation of the (rest of the) bodies from Greece.”
He said his organization was in touch with the Pakistani Embassy in Greece to facilitate the process.
“We are doing this to sympathize with the bereaved families.”
Pakistanis have increasingly been making perilous sea journeys to Europe in recent months to escape skyrocketing inflation, joblessness and other economic hardships. From the district of Gujrat alone, at least 90 people left home on April 15, flying from Islamabad airport to Karachi and onward to Dubai, Egypt and finally Libya, from where they boarded the doomed vessel in June.
Many of the Pakistani migrants were also from Azad Kashmir, each paying about $7,000 to traffickers to make the ill-fated voyage.
Following the tragedy, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed stern action against smugglers involved in the incident. Authorities have since been cracking down on people smugglers and have arrested more than a dozen suspects in raids primarily in Punjab.