RAWALPINDI: The bodies of 11 Pakistanis arrived on Wednesday at Benazir Bhutto International Airport from Libya in a special plane.
Their names were Ikram-ul-Haq, Muhammad Qasim, Waleed Akram, Mirza Ghulam Fareed, Tanzeel-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Aziz, Luqman Ali, Kashif Jamil, Azmat Bibi, Mazhar Hussain and Farhan Ali.
They were among 16 Pakistanis who died on Feb. 2 when a boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya.
Weeping relatives of the deceased arrived at the airport with ambulances to take the bodies to their hometowns. They demanded that the government take action against people-smugglers.
Bashir Chaudhry, the cousin of a deceased family, said Ismail Khan drowned along with his wife Azmat Bibi and their two children. Only Bibi’s body was recovered.
“The family was planning to settle in Spain. That’s why they risked their lives,” he told Arab News.
“They were poor, and Ismail couldn’t find a job in Pakistan despite his best efforts for the last two years.”
Khan paid a hefty amount to people-smugglers, Chaudhry said, adding: “People who wish to go to Europe for better jobs should learn a lesson from this incident.”
The bodies were brought from Jeddah via Saudi Arabian Airlines. The deceased are from the Mandi Bahauddin, Gurjat, Sargodha, Faislabad, Sialkot and Rawalpindi districts of Pakistan.
The bodies of two more Pakistanis will be flown later after completion of due process by Libyan authorities.
Ghulam Akbar told Arab News that his brother Mirza Fareed is survived by five children who are now bound to lead a “miserable life.”
Akbar said: “The government should take strict action against people-smugglers.” He urged parents not to send their children abroad via illegal means.
Sajjad Haider Khan, director of the Libyan Crisis Cell of Pakistan’s Foreign Office, said bringing the bodies back was difficult due to a lack of direct flights from Libya.
“Gullible people are an easy target for people-smugglers,” he told Arab News. “People-smugglers have spread their tentacles across the globe, and they’re well organized.”
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested dozens of people-smugglers in recent months, he said.
There is a need to create public awareness about the risks and dangers involved in going to Europe via illegal routes, he added.
“Europe isn’t a paradise,” he said. “People should try to find jobs in Pakistan instead of paying hefty amounts to smugglers and risking their lives.”
Thousands of Pakistanis risk their lives each year to travel to Europe in search of better jobs with the help of people-smugglers. Most end up in jail or dead.
In November last year, 20 people trying to cross the Pakistan-Iran border illegally, with help from smugglers in both countries, were killed by militants in Turbat, Balochistan.
According to an FIA report issued in December last year, 6,767 Pakistanis entered Europe illegally via Iran in 2017 alone, while 27,749 were deported — 18,810 from Iran, 4,401 from Turkey and 4,538 from EU countries.
“Pakistani nationals are among the 10 most-detected nationalities that attempt irregular migration to the European Union and Australia,” the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report published in July 2013.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Bodies of 11 Pakistanis arrive from Libya
Bodies of 11 Pakistanis arrive from Libya
Trump renews push to annex Greenland
- President Donald Trump doubled down Sunday on his claim that Greenland should become part of the United States, despite calls by Denmark’s prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory
COPENHAGEN: President Donald Trump doubled down Sunday on his claim that Greenland should become part of the United States, despite calls by Denmark’s prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory.
Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the Arctic.
While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
“We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months... let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”
Over the weekend, the Danish prime minister called on Washington to stop “threatening its historical ally.”
“I have to say this very clearly to the United States: it is absolutely absurd to say that the United States should take control of Greenland,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement.
She also noted that Denmark, “and thus Greenland,” was a NATO member protected by the agreement’s security guarantees.
’Disrespectful’
Trump rattled European leaders by attacking Caracas and grabbing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, who is now being detained in New York.
Trump has said the United States will now “run” Venezuela indefinitely and tap its huge oil reserves.
Asked in a telephone interview with The Atlantic about the implications of the Venezuela military operation for mineral-rich Greenland, Trump said it was up to others to decide.
“They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know,” Trump was quoted as saying.
He added: “But we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”
Hours later, former aide Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it “SOON.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen called Miller’s post “disrespectful.”
“Relations between nations and peoples are built on mutual respect and international law — not on symbolic gestures that disregard our status and our rights,” he wrote on X.
But he also said “there is neither reason for panic nor for concern. Our country is not for sale, and our future is not decided by social media posts.”
Allies?
Stephen Miller is widely seen as the architect of much of Trump’s policies, guiding the president on his hard-line immigration policies and domestic agenda.
Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, Jesper Moeller Soerensen, offered a pointed “friendly reminder” in response to Katie Miller’s post that his country has “significantly boosted its Arctic security efforts” and worked together with Washington on that.
“We are close allies and should continue to work together as such,” Soerensen wrote.
Katie Miller was deputy press secretary under Trump at the Department of Homeland Security during his first term.
She later worked as communications director for then-vice president Mike Pence and also acted as his press secretary.
Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the Arctic.
While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
“We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months... let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”
Over the weekend, the Danish prime minister called on Washington to stop “threatening its historical ally.”
“I have to say this very clearly to the United States: it is absolutely absurd to say that the United States should take control of Greenland,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement.
She also noted that Denmark, “and thus Greenland,” was a NATO member protected by the agreement’s security guarantees.
’Disrespectful’
Trump rattled European leaders by attacking Caracas and grabbing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, who is now being detained in New York.
Trump has said the United States will now “run” Venezuela indefinitely and tap its huge oil reserves.
Asked in a telephone interview with The Atlantic about the implications of the Venezuela military operation for mineral-rich Greenland, Trump said it was up to others to decide.
“They are going to have to view it themselves. I really don’t know,” Trump was quoted as saying.
He added: “But we do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense.”
Hours later, former aide Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it “SOON.”
Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen called Miller’s post “disrespectful.”
“Relations between nations and peoples are built on mutual respect and international law — not on symbolic gestures that disregard our status and our rights,” he wrote on X.
But he also said “there is neither reason for panic nor for concern. Our country is not for sale, and our future is not decided by social media posts.”
Allies?
Stephen Miller is widely seen as the architect of much of Trump’s policies, guiding the president on his hard-line immigration policies and domestic agenda.
Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, Jesper Moeller Soerensen, offered a pointed “friendly reminder” in response to Katie Miller’s post that his country has “significantly boosted its Arctic security efforts” and worked together with Washington on that.
“We are close allies and should continue to work together as such,” Soerensen wrote.
Katie Miller was deputy press secretary under Trump at the Department of Homeland Security during his first term.
She later worked as communications director for then-vice president Mike Pence and also acted as his press secretary.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.