At least 50 migrants, many of them Pakistanis, may have drowned in the latest deadly shipwreck involving people trying to cross from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, the rights group said on Thursday of Walking Borders migrants. Moroccan authorities on Wednesday rescued 36 people from a boat that left Mauritania on January 2 with 86 migrants on board, including 66 Pakistanis, the group said. Forty-four of those presumed to have drowned were from Pakistan, Helena Maleno, CEO of Walking Borders, told X. "They spent 13 days of anguish on the crossing without anyone coming to help them," she said. The boat capsized off the disputed Western Sahara region and several of the survivors, including Pakistanis, were taken to a camp near the port of Dakhla, the foreign ministry said in a message on X. Pakistan declared that the boat had been transported. carrying 80 passengers. A press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued today said that the Pakistan Embassy in Rabat informed the ministry about the incident.
"Several survivors, including Pakistanis, are housed in a camp near Dakhla. Our embassy in Rabat is in contact with the local authorities. In addition, a team from the embassy was dispatched to Dakhla to facilitate the reception of Pakistani nationals and provide them with the necessary assistance."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said its crisis management unit had been activated and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had asked government agencies to extend all possible facilitation measures to the affected Pakistanis. He said CMU could be contacted at (051-9207887) or ([email protected]), while Acting Ambassador Rabia Kasuri and Consular Assistant Noman Ali at the Rabat embassy could be contacted. contacted at (+212 689 52 23 65) and (+92 310 2204672), respectively, on WhatsApp. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif demanded a report on the incident from the authorities and said that strict action would be taken against those involved in this heinous act of human trafficking.
"No negligence of any kind will be tolerated in this regard. Strong measures are taken against human trafficking," he said in a statement. Asked about the warnings received from NGOs regarding a missing boat, the Spanish maritime rescue service declared that it had become aware on January 10 of the existence of a ship which had left Nouakchott in Mauritania and was encountering problems, but without being able to confirm It was the same boat. . The service said it conducted aerial searches without success and warned nearby vessels. Walking Borders said it alerted authorities in all affected countries about the missing boat six days ago. Alarm Phone, an NGO that provides an emergency telephone line for migrants lost at sea, also said it alerted Spanish maritime rescue services on January 12 about a boat in distress. A record 10,457 migrants, or 30 people a day, died trying to reach Spain in 2024, most of them trying to cross the Atlantic route from West African countries like Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands, according to Walking Borders. Citing Walking Borders’ message on "The Atlantic cannot continue to be the cemetery of Africa," Clavijo said on X. "They cannot continue to turn their backs on this humanitarian tragedy."
With additional input from News Desk
