ISLAMABAD: Briefing a parliamentary panel about the Greek boat tragedy on Tuesday, officials from the Ministry of Fore­ign Affairs said that the res­ponse from Greek auth­o­rities on human rights vio­la­tions had been ‘limited’.

The officials told the Standing Committee on Human Rights that 291 Pakistanis were on board when the boat capsized off the coast of Greece. Only 12 Pakistanis survived; 11 of them applied for asylum, while one had returned to Pakistan.

Lawmakers were also informed that 11 bodies had been repatriated so far, while the identity of 15 bodies had been ascertained through fingerprints.

About investigations into human trafficking networks, the officials said 193 cases were being probed and 90 suspected human traffickers were arrested while another 35 were traced abroad.

The committee meeting, which was presided over by MNA Dr Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto, was held at Parliament House.

The committee also discussed the issuance of fake identity documents to Afghan refugees, leading to misuse and resulting in tarnishing Pakis­tan’s reputation. Besides, the lawmakers expressed concern over legal status of newborns among Afghan refugees, financial assistance and plan for their repatriation after a three-month period.

Also, the director general of the Ministry of Human Rights updated the committee on implementation of its recommendations made from time to time. He then apprised the lawmakers about the compliance of international and national obligations related to human rights, coordination with provincial governments, and consideration of various bills under the subjects of torture, custodial death and custodial rape, senior citizen rights, child protection, the protection of journalists and media professionals, protection against harassment of women at workplace, juvenile justice system, and maintenance of welfare of old parents and senior citizen named a few.

The Pemra director general apprised the committee of an awareness drive regarding child protection. The committee recommended that collaboration with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for caller tunes, better utilisation of social media platforms and employing regional languages to expand the reach of the messages.

Also, the committee directed Pemra to furnish a list of TV channels broadcasting the public service messages.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2023