The bodies of four more Pakistani victims from the Mauritania-Morocco boat tragedy are expected to arrive at Islamabad airport today (Friday).
According to official sources, the remains of Sufyan Ali and Qussain Haider from Gujrat, Muhammad Waqas from Gujranwala, and Muhammad Akram from Mandi Bahauddin—reportedly killed by human traffickers—will be brought back via a Saudi Airlines flight in the early hours of Friday.
Earlier, the bodies of Qaisar Iqbal (Gujrat), Hamid Shabeer and Sajjad Ali (Mandi Bahauddin), and Muhammad Arslan (Sheikhupura) were repatriated between Wednesday and Thursday. Funeral prayers for these victims have already been held in their respective hometowns.
Among them, Sheikh Zaheeruddin Babar of Gujrat, whose body could not be recovered, was remembered with funeral prayers in absentia. Babar, younger brother of University of Gujrat’s media director Professor Sheikh Abdul Rasheed, had previously migrated to Italy before returning to Pakistan. His latest attempt to reach Spain, where another brother resides, ended in tragedy when traffickers reportedly threw victims into the Atlantic Ocean.
The family of Muhammad Arslan Khan, one of the victims buried in Sheikhupura, expressed their anguish. “We sent Arslan to build a better future, and the trafficker assured us it would be legal,” said his brother Adnan Khan. “We sold our property and animals, but the trafficker betrayed us—sending back our brother’s dead body instead.”
Pakistan ranks among the top countries for emigration, with many migrants from Punjab and Azad Kashmir seeking better opportunities in Europe. However, thousands attempt illegal crossings each year, often falling victim to dangerous human trafficking networks.
In June 2023, one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean saw a rusty, overcrowded trawler carrying over 750 people—up to 350 of them Pakistanis—sink overnight. Only 82 bodies were ever recovered.
Source: Dawn
