The accident occurred in international waters in the Ionian Sea and prompted an extensive rescue operation complicated by strong winds.
At least 78 people have died and many more are feared missing after a fishing boat carrying refugees and migrants capsized and sank off the southern coast of Greece – one of the worst such disasters this year.
The Greek coastguard said in a statement on Wednesday the vessel sank in international waters, 47 nautical miles (87km) southwest of Pylos, off the Peloponnese coast. The spot is close to one of the deepest areas of the Mediterranean.
Rescuers saved 104 passengers – including Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghans and Palestinians – and recovered 79 bodies.
Coastguard spokesman Alexiou told state ERT TV it appeared that the 25- to 30-metre (80- to 100-foot) vessel capsized after people abruptly moved to one side.
“The outer deck was full of people, and we presume the interior [of the vessel] would also have been full,” he said. “It looks as if there was a shift among the people who were crammed on board, and it capsized.”
Greek authorities cannot confirm reports the boat had an estimated 700-750 people on board, the spokesman for Greece’s caretaker government, Ilias Siakantaris, told ERT.“We do not know what was in the hold … but we know that several smugglers lock people up to maintain control,” said Siakantaris.
Source: aljazeera.com
Greece boat tragedy: Hundreds of Pakistanis believed to be among dead
Over 700 refugees were reportedly on the boat which included over 300 from Pakistan, said reports. Greek authorities said 104 survivors had been brought ashore so far.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani embassy in Greece issued a statement saying that its representatives have met the 12 Pakistani survivors in Kalamata from the June 15 disaster. Following that meet, DNA reports and identification reports have been obtained from the family members.
Pakistanis in Greece
In the 1970s, Greece and Pakistan signed a bilateral agreement allowing Pakistanis to gain temporary employment in Greek shipyards. Shortly after, another agreement facilitated the migration of Pakistanis to work in Greece’s textile industries.
Most of the Pakistanis in the country were single, young men who had entered the country illegally with the help of human smugglers through the land route of Iran and Turkey to Greece
The four districts in Punjab, which had the largest share of migrants included Gujrat, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Mandi Bahauddin.
The UN’s international organisation for Migration said nearly 3,800 people died on migration routes within and from the Middle East and North Africa region last year, the highest number since 2017.
Pakistan authorities arrest 10 human traffickers. As per an Al Jazeera report, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also ordered an immediate crackdown on agents engaged in people smuggling, saying they would be “severely punished”.
Young men, mostly from east Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, use the route through Iran, Libya, Turkey, and Greece to enter Europe for livelihood as Pakistan is battling an unprecedented economic and political crisis, the Al Jazeera report added. Source: wionews.com/
What Is Greece’s Migration Policy?
Most migrants to Greece cross from Turkey, either reaching the nearby eastern Greek islands in small boats or by crossing the Evros river — known as the Meric in Turkey — which runs along the land border.
What Are The Trends In Migrant Arrivals In The Mediterranean?
Italy has recorded the vast majority of
“irregular” arrivals in Europe so far this year, 55,160. That is more than double the 21,884 who arrived in the same period in 2022, and 16,737 in 2021. People from Ivory Coast, Egypt, Guinea, Pakistan and Bangladesh account for the most arrivals this year, according to Interior Ministry data.
U.N. refugee officials note that overall numbers of migrants seeking to come to Europe this way have been on the decline, to an average of around 120,000 annually.
How Has Migration Divided Eu Nations?
Mediterranean countries have for years complained that they bear the brunt of receiving and processing migrants and have long demanded other countries step up and take them in. Poland, Hungary and other Eastern European nations have repeatedly refused an EU plan to share the burdens of caring for migrants. But after years of bickering, EU leaders last week said there was a breakthrough in negotiations for a new migration and asylum pact. Human rights groups say the EU has been outsourcing migrant rescues to the Libyan coast guard, which returns them to horrific camps where many are subjected to beatings, rape and other abuse. The EU and member states have also struck agreements with other North African nations to improve their border control and stop migrant boats from reaching Europe.
Source: apnews.com
Saturday, April 18, 2026
