ISLAMABAD: More than 40 Pakistanis are feared to have drowned in the capsizing of a boat off West Africa’s Atlantic coastline, which has emerged as a primary point of departure for migrants aiming to reach Europe.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed grief over the deaths and stressed the need for strict measures to curb human trafficking.
Zardari’s comments in a statement late Thursday came after a Spain-based migrant rights group, Walking Borders, said 50 people had died on their way to the Canary Islands and that 44 of them were Pakistanis. The group said the migrants began their journey on Jan. 2.
Pakistan said it had been informed by its embassy in Morocco that a boat carrying 80 passengers, including some Pakistanis, had set off from Mauritania and capsized near Dakhla, a Moroccan-controlled port city in the disputed Western Sahara.
Millions of people migrate to Europe each year, the vast majority using legal and regular means. Less than 240,000 people crossed borders into the continent without papers last year, according to the European Union’s border agency Frontex.
As authorities have worked to prevent migration and smuggling from countries in the Mediterranean Sea, more dangerous routes have become increasingly used. Frontex reported more than 50,000 migrants made the journey from northwest Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands in 2024, including 178 Pakistanis.
Walking Borders said in a report last week that 9,757 people had died or gone missing trying to cross to the islands, calling the route “the deadliest in the world.”
The islands are roughly 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the closest point in Africa, but to avoid security forces, many migrants attempt longer journeys that can take days or weeks. The majority last year departed from Mauritania, which is at least 473 miles (762 kilometers) from the closest Canary Island, El Hierro.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said several survivors, including Pakistanis, are staying in a camp near Dakhla. Pakistan’s Embassy in Morocco is in touch with local authorities and officials have gone to Dakhla to help survivors, according to a ministry statement.
The ministry did not say how many Pakistanis had died. Officials at the ministry were not immediately available for comment on Friday.
Hundreds of Pakistanis die every year while trying to reach Europe by land and sea with the help of human smugglers.
In 2023, an estimated 350 Pakistanis were on board an overcrowded fishing boat carrying migrants that sank off Greece. Many perished in what was one of the deadliest incidents in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pakistan says it has launched a crackdown on human traffickers.
Over 40 Pakistanis feared dead in migrant boat disaster off African coast
https://arab.news/6gsqc
Over 40 Pakistanis feared dead in migrant boat disaster off African coast
- Hundreds of Pakistanis die every year while trying to reach Europe by land and sea
- In 2023, nearly 350 Pakistanis were on board a fishing boat that capsized near Greece
Pakistan, global crypto exchange discuss modernizing digital payments, creating job prospects
- Pakistani officials, Binance team discuss coordination between Islamabad, local banks and global exchanges
- Pakistan has attempted to tap into growing crypto market to curb illicit transactions, improve oversight
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s finance officials and the team of a global cryptocurrency exchange on Friday held discussions aimed at modernizing the country’s digital payments system and building local talent pipelines to meet rising demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, the finance ministry said.
The development took place during a high-level meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) Chairman Bilal bin Saqib, domestic bank presidents and a Binance team led by Global CEO Richard Teng. The meeting was held to advance work on Pakistan’s National Digital Asset Framework, a regulatory setup to govern Pakistan’s digital assets.
Pakistan has been moving to regulate its fast-growing crypto and digital assets market by bringing virtual asset service providers (VASPs) under a formal licensing regime. Officials say the push is aimed at curbing illicit transactions, improving oversight, and encouraging innovation in blockchain-based financial services.
“Participants reviewed opportunities to modernize Pakistan’s digital payments landscape, noting that blockchain-based systems could significantly reduce costs from the country’s $38 billion annual remittance flows,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
“Discussions also emphasized building local talent pipelines to meet rising global demand for blockchain and Web3 skills, creating high-value employment prospects for Pakistani youth.”
Blockchain is a type of digital database that is shared, transparent and tamper-resistant. Instead of being stored on one computer, the data is kept on a distributed network of computers, making it very hard to alter or hack.
Web3 refers to the next generation of the Internet built using blockchain, focusing on giving users more control over their data, identity and digital assets rather than big tech companies controlling it.
Participants of the meeting also discussed sovereign debt tokenization, which is the process of converting a country’s debt such as government bonds, into digital tokens on a blockchain, the ministry said.
Aurangzeb called for close coordination between the government, domestic banks and global exchanges to modernize Pakistan’s payment landscape.
Participants of the meeting also discussed considering a “time-bound amnesty” to encourage users to move assets onto regulated platforms, stressing the need for stronger verifications and a risk-mitigation system.
Pakistan has attempted in recent months to tap into the country’s growing crypto market, crack down on money laundering and terror financing, and promote responsible innovation — a move analysts say could bring an estimated $25 billion in virtual assets into the tax net.
In September, Islamabad invited international crypto exchanges and other VASPs to apply for licenses to operate in the country, a step aimed at formalizing and regulating its fast-growing digital market.
