ISLAMABAD: A group of migrants who survived the capsizing of a boat off the coast of West Africa earlier this month began returning to Pakistan on Thursday, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Some 50 people died when a boat carrying them to the Canary Islands capsized near Dakhla, a Moroccan-controlled port city in the disputed Western Sahara, including 44 Pakistanis, according to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Walking Borders, a Spain-based migrant rights group.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said that some of the 22 Pakistani survivors had already returned home on two flights. He did not give any further details, and it was unclear how many survivors returned home.
Almost all the Pakistanis who were on the boat were from cities in the eastern province of Punjab, and relatives of those who are feared dead have been urging the government to make efforts to bring back their bodies.
Hundreds of Pakistanis die every year while trying to reach Europe by land and sea with the help of human smugglers. Pakistan says it has launched a crackdown on human traffickers and sacked several immigration officials for negligence.
Migrants who survived capsize off African coast begin returning to Pakistan
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Migrants who survived capsize off African coast begin returning to Pakistan
- Some 50 people, including 44 Pakistanis, died when a boat carrying them to Canary Islands capsized near Moroccan coast
- Foreign ministry spokesperson says some of the 22 Pakistani survivors had already returned home on two flights
Pakistan presses UN to prevent Afghan soil from being used against neighboring countries
- Pakistan, which faces a renewed surge in militancy, has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups on its soil, an allegation Kabul denies
- Islamabad’s UN envoy says the UN Security Council has spoken with a unanimous voice and ‘it is for the Taliban to decide what path they wish to choose’
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged the United Nations (UN) to prevent the use of Afghan soil by militant groups to threaten neighboring countries, saying “efforts must be made to prevent external spoilers from exploiting the situation.”
Pakistan, which has been witnessing a renewed surge in militant violence, has frequently accused Afghanistan of allowing militant groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), to operate on its soil and India of backing them in attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegations.
The surge in militant violence in Pakistan triggered one of the worst skirmishes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Oct. last year, after Islamabad hit what it called TTP targets inside Afghanistan. Pakistan has since suspended all trade with Afghanistan, despite a ceasefire reached between the neighbors in Doha that same month.
On Thursday, Pakistan voted in favor of a UN Security Council resolution that extended for 12 months the mandate of the team tasked with monitoring sanctions against the Taliban and their associated groups and individuals, welcoming the unanimous adoption of the resolution that is both “timely and necessary.”
“Pakistan remains seriously concerned by the active presence of terrorist groups on Afghan soil,” Islamabad’s permanent representative to UN Asim Iftikhar Ahmad said, while addressing the Council.
“We reiterate our call that Afghan territory must not be used for terrorism against neighboring countries and efforts must be made to prevent external spoilers from exploiting the situation.”
There was no immediate comment from the Afghan side to the statement, which came days after a suicide attack on a mosque in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad killed at least 32 people and injured dozens more. Officials said while the suicide attacker was a Pakistani national, he was trained in Afghanistan ahead of the bombing claimed by Daesh.
Unanimously adopting resolution 2816, the 15-member UNSC decided that all states will continue to implement the sanctions measures imposed both on the Taliban and related “individuals, groups, undertakings and entities” that threaten Afghanistan’s peace, stability and security.
It further renewed the mandate of the monitoring team charged with assisting the Afghanistan Sanctions Committee, which was first established in resolution 2011, for a period of 12 months from the date of its expiration this month. Among other tasks, the Council directed the monitoring team to gather information on instances of non-compliance with sanctions, keep the Committee informed of such instances and to provide recommendations on actions to respond to non-compliance.
“The Council has spoken with a unanimous voice today by highlighting these problems and remains committed to reviewing these sanctions as and when appropriate while taking into account the ground realities in Afghanistan,” Ahmad said.
“It is for the Taliban to decide what path they wish to choose for Afghanistan; whether it is the path to isolation or the path to peace and prosperity as a responsible member of the international community.”
