RAWALPINDI: Seven Pakistani nationals who survived the Morocco boat tragedy earlier this month returned on Thursday, sources told Dawn.

Over 40 Pakistanis were reportedly murdered by African human traffickers on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean while attempting to enter Europe earlier this month.

Only 22 out of around 66 Pakistanis onboard survived the tragedy.

The immigrants who were deported from Morocco arrived at the Islamabad Airport.

They were taken into protective custody from the airport, where Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Anti-Human Trafficking Cell recorded their initial statements, according to sources.

After initial questioning, all passengers were handed over to FIA authorities of their respective hometowns, who would collect information regarding the identification of alleged human traffickers and travel agents.

Some of the survivors, who arrived via Emirates flight EK-612, had suffered serious injuries due to the torture of human traffickers.

The deportees were identified as Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Abbas, Mudassar Hussain, Imran Iqbal, Uzair Basharat, Shoaib Zafar and Aamir Ali, who belong to Gujarat, Hafizabad, Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin and Gujranwala, according to FIA officials.

According to the initial investigation, the Pakistani nationals paid between Rs1.6 million to Rs2.5 million per person to human agents for air trips to Spain.

However, the agents illegally sent them to Ethiopia and later to Senegal on visit visas.

From Senegal, the agents sent them to Spain by sea and during the voyage, extracted more money from the immigrants.

The investigation revealed that most of the travel agents belonged to Wazirabad, Lahore, Gujarat and Sialkot.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2025