Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday directed authorities to take solid action against human trafficking after the deaths of five Pakistani citizens in Greek shipwrecks last week.

At least five migrants drowned after their wooden boat, carrying many Pakistanis, capsized off Greece’s southern island of Gavdos, the coastguard said on Saturday, with witnesses saying many were still missing as search operations continued.

In separate incidents, a Malta-flagged cargo vessel rescued 47 migrants from a boat sailing about 40 nautical miles off Gavdos, while a tanker rescued another 88 migrants some 28 nautical miles off the tiny island in Greece’s south.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered a case against four alleged human traffickers and reportedly detained two suspects from Sialkot and Gujrat, as the number of Pakistani nationals killed rose to five a day ago.

Chairing a meeting in Islamabad today to discuss the death of Pakistani nationals and measures to curb human trafficking, the premier called for strict action against those involved in smuggling people to other countries.

PM Shehbaz said that 262 Pakistani nationals lost their lives in another incident in the same area last year and expressed displeasure over inaction against those responsible.

“The recurrence of such incidents is due to the sluggish actions against the people involved,” he added.

The prime minister ordered the immediate implementation of the Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) to monitor international travellers.

He also sought details on the public awareness campaign on human trafficking and tasked the FIA and foreign ministry to produce a report on incidents involving Pakistani nationals over the last year.

PM Shehbaz also stressed the need to “enhance collaboration with international institutions to prevent the recurrence of such tragic incidents”.

During the briefing, the prime minister was informed that 174 people accused of human trafficking were produced in court, with four of them receiving convictions.

Human traffickers have now started using air routes to send their clients to Libya, from where they are dispatched to Italy via treacherous Mediterranean crossings.

Senior FIA officials claimed that poverty and unemployment were not the only motivating factors behind human trafficking, saying that it had become a kind of social trend or status symbol in Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Wazirabad and adjoining areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir to send family members abroad by any means.

For thousands, of migrants, heading to Europe from the Middle East, the long route to a new life lies through Greece and the Western Balkans. Between 2014 and the end of 2023, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project recorded over 63,000 deaths and disappearances on migration routes.

Year-to-year, 2023 saw an increase in deaths across the Mediterranean, Africa and Asia, with an unprecedented number of lives lost across the latter two regions.