RAWALPINDI: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is planning to establish its offices in Greece and Iran to check the activities of organised criminal networks and illegal movement of Pakistanis.
An official said the FIA had been seeking assistance of the Foreign Office for establishing its offices in the two countries. He said an FIA officer of the deputy director rank with required staff would be posted in Iran and Greece.
The move came after a boat with a majority of illegal Pakistani immigrants capsized off the coast of Libya on Jan 31, leaving several people drowned.
FO spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan’s embassies had already been working in the two countries to facilitate Pakistanis. He stressed the need to launch a campaign led by the FIA across the country to create awareness among people about consequences of going abroad illegally.
“The most important thing is to stop young people from going abroad, especially to Europe, by boats illegally,” he said.
When asked about the total number of Pakistanis killed in the boat tragedy in Libya, the FO spokesman said the accurate number was not available because they were illegal immigrants and officially nobody had any information about their voyage.
He said every Pakistani illegal immigrant caught by law enforcement agencies in Turkey or Greece was sent back to Pakistan within the shortest possible time, but those who didn’t want to come back stayed there.
Pakistani nationals Mohsin and Tamraiz were among the survivors who were either rescued or swam to shore.
Mohammad Tasleem told Dawn that his nephew Mohsin was among the survivors, while the body of Tanzeel-ur-Rehman had already been sent to Pakistan.
He said as Mohsin’s passport was lost in the sea and as soon as he got new travel documents he would return to Pakistan, but Tamraiz would stay there as he did not want to come back to Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2018
