A year after his brother went missing in one of the Mediterranean’s deadliest shipwrecks, Suleman Tariq wants answers. But like many young Pakistanis, he is determined to make it to Europe.
Dozens of families gathered at a wedding hall in Lalamusa, Punjab, on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the sinking of a rusty, overloaded trawler off the coast of Greece, killing more than 600 people.
“Our economic situation has worsened since my brother went missing. We have no choice but to leave Pakistan to repay the loans our family took,” Tariq said. His brother Usman Tariq was also on board but his death has not been confirmed.
“There is nothing in this country… but I will only pursue legal means and will not follow in my brother’s footsteps.”
Nearly every household in the surrounding area has a male relative who traveled illegally to Europe in search of economic prosperity in the past few decades.
According to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM), the country has one of the highest migration rates in the world.
“May Allah not let what happened to us happen to anyone else,” said Usman Tariq’s wife, Fakhara Usman, 24, who gave birth to their second daughter just two months after the disaster.
“It’s so hard. Living and dying every day. It’s so hard.”
The family borrowed 2.5 million rupees (about $8,970) from relatives to pay smugglers to get Tariq across the dangerous waters.
According to the United Nations, there were more than 750 people on board the boat, but only 82 bodies have been found.
The government in Islamabad said up to 350 Pakistanis were on board the boat.
Twelve people survived, 15 bodies were recovered, and the rest are listed as missing.
“We’re looking for any information, that’s why we’re here. Hopefully we’ll hear some news and hopefully find him,” she added.
– Smuggling crackdown –
Pakistan is experiencing a staggering economic downturn that is fuelling an increase in illegal migration, mostly by young men hoping to establish an economic foothold in Europe and send money home.
But the scale of the disaster has prompted Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to step up its crackdown, with the agency telling AFP on Thursday that dozens of smugglers had been arrested since last year.
In May, a Pakistani court sentenced one of the defendants, Muhammad Mumtaz, to 20 years in prison and a fine of 4.2 million Pakistani rupees for human smuggling.
The FIA added that several other men are currently undergoing trial in various courts.
“Poverty has forced us to take this decision,” said Rehana Naz, a 50-year-old health worker whose son is still missing.
Tens of thousands of migrants, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, have entered Greece through its sea and land borders with Turkey in recent years.
The IOM has declared the Mediterranean sea route the most dangerous migration route in the world.
Some 3,155 migrants went missing last year alone, surpassing the 2,411 disappearances recorded in 2022. Authorities say 923 people have gone missing so far this year.
In Greece, survivors claim it took hours for the coast guard to launch a response to the sunken ship, despite warnings from the EU border agency Frontex and the NGO Alarmphone.
The Coast Guard claims to have made contact with those on board who “refused any assistance.”
Pakistani families of the victims are also seeking compensation from the Greek government and are preparing to file a lawsuit in Athens.
“It is the Greek government’s moral responsibility to save these people’s lives. The Greek coast guard saw the ship sink but did not act to save them,” said Mehr Nasir Aslam, 63, a lawyer and local activist who organized the commemoration.
“Even if they had entered the country illegally, they could have been arrested and deported. We will be taking legal action in Greece because we cannot allow them to die.”
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