(Muzaffarabad) Pakistani authorities announced on Sunday that they had arrested 10 people suspected of being involved in human trafficking.
These arrests come a few days after the death of dozens of migrants in the sinking of a dilapidated and crowded boat off the coast of Greece.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered a crackdown on “individuals engaged in the heinous crime of human trafficking” and promised that the culprits would be “severely punished”, according to a statement from his office.
Every year, thousands of young Pakistanis embark on perilous crossings to Europe where they attempt to enter illegally in search of a better life.
Pakistani migrants were on board the trawler which capsized and then sank in 15 minutes off the Peloponnese on Wednesday morning, killing at least 78 people and hundreds missing.
Twelve Pakistanis are among the survivors, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday, although it does not know how many of its nationals were on board.
But according to Pakistani media, their number could be more than 300. They were more than 200, told AFP an immigration official speaking on condition of anonymity.
The estimated number of people on board is between 400 and 750, according to the International Organization for Migration and the High Commission for Refugees.
A national day of mourning will be observed in Pakistan on Monday, authorities said.
Nine people “involved in human smuggling operations” were arrested in the Pakistani region of Kashmir, where the majority of the victims originated. Another was arrested in Gujrat in Punjab, a city that has long been a breeding ground for candidates for departure.
Those apprehended “are currently being investigated for their involvement in facilitating the whole process”, Chaudhary Shaukat, a Kashmir official, told AFP.
Political unrest and an economy on the verge of collapse are pushing tens of thousands of Pakistanis out of the country, legally or illegally.
The young men, mainly from eastern Punjab and northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, often travel the route from Iran, Libya, Turkey and Greece to enter Europe illegally.
