The nation yesterday observed a day of mourning for the victims of last week’s Greece boat tragedy.
According to reports, at least 400 Pakistanis, 200 Egyptians and 150 Syrians were travelling on the trawler.
More than 300 Pakistani nationals have been killed in the sinking of an overcrowded boat or fishing trawler off the coast of Greece.
The chairman of Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, disclosed the numbers in a statement on Sunday, sending condolences to grieving families of the dead.
It is heartening to note that the government has initiated immediate crackdown on agents or human traffickers engaged in people’s smuggling. Over a dozen of trafficking suspects are said to have been arrested so far.
In my view, however, this is not enough. The country needs a legislation through which severe penalties on individuals, companies, and agents involved in human trafficking can be imposed in the shortest possible time.
Their cases must be tried in anti-terrorism courts. It is widely believed that human trafficking networks enjoy political support to carry out their business freely.
Such and similar support must come to an end through full force of law of the land. Ironically, Pakistan has become a magnet for human traffickers.
Nadir Ali Pasha
Karachi
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023