ISLAMABAD: The foreign office said on Monday four Pakistanis were among the dead following the latest migrant boat tragedy last week near the Greek island of Crete.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever in the Mediterranean Sea.
Greek government officials say the spike in migrant arrivals is being driven by conflicts in the Middle East.
“We announce with deep sorrow that, as per the latest information shared by the Greek authorities, four Pakistani nationals have been identified among the dead in Saturday’s incidents of capsized boats in the south of Crete Island of Greece,” the foreign office said in a statement on Monday evening.
“Our Mission in Athens is in contact with the Greek authorities to facilitate the survivors and repatriate the dead bodies.”
Greece was a favored gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia in 2015-2016, when nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, mostly via inflatable dinghies.
Incidents with migrant boats and shipwrecks off Crete and its tiny neighbor Gavdos, which are relatively isolated in the central Mediterranean, have increased over the past year.
