ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Monday it had activated a crisis management cell and was trying to ascertain whether any Pakistanis were aboard a ship carrying 65 passengers that had capsized near the coast of Libya.
The last tragedy comes weeks after at least 13 Pakistanis died when a boat carrying 86 migrants to Europe capsized near the coats of Morocco on January 16.
Each year thousands of Pakistanis pay large sums to traffickers to arrange risky and illegal journeys to Europe, where they hope to find work and send funds to support families back home. Many people also take unlawful migrant routes to escape conflicts and religious persecution.
A foreign office spokesperson said a vessel had capsized near the port of Marsa Dela, in the northwest of Zawiya city in Libya, and the Pakistan embassy in Tripoli had dispatched a team to a local hospital to assist authorities in identifying the deceased.
“The Embassy is also trying to ascertain further details of the Pakistani affectees,” the statement said. “The Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been activated to monitor the situation.”
Pakistan has recently launched a crackdown on human trafficking rings that arrange perilous journeys via sea for migrants, as its nationals are frequently among those who drown on crammed boats that sink on the Mediterranean Sea separating North Africa from Europe, considered the world’s deadliest migrant route.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos, marking one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
More recently, five Pakistani nationals died in a shipwreck off the southern Greek island of Gavdos on Dec. 14.
Pakistan launches crisis unit as ship carrying 65 migrants capsizes near Libyan coast
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Pakistan launches crisis unit as ship carrying 65 migrants capsizes near Libyan coast
- Pakistan says embassy in Tripoli trying to ascertain “further details of Pakistani affectees”
- Thousands of Pakistanis yearly pay large sums to traffickers to arrange risky journeys to Europe
At ECO meeting, Pakistan proposes ‘Regional Innovation Hub’ to curb natural disasters
- Pakistan hosts high-level 10th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction in Islamabad
- Innovation hub to focus on early warning technologies, risk informed infrastructure planning
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has proposed to set up a “Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction” that focuses on early warning technologies and risk informed infrastructure planning, the Press Information Department (PID) said on Wednesday, as Islamabad hosts a high-level meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
The ECO’s 10th Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is being held from Jan. 21-22 at the headquarters of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan’s capital.
The high-level regional forum brings together ministers, and senior officials from ECO member states, representatives of the ECO Secretariat and regional and international partner organizations. The event is aimed to strengthen collective efforts toward enhancing disaster resilience across the ECO region, the PID said.
“Key agenda items include regional cooperation on early warning systems, disaster risk information management, landslide hazard zoning, inclusive disaster preparedness initiatives, and Pakistan’s proposal to establish a Regional Innovation Hub on Disaster Risk Reduction, focusing on early warning technologies, satellite data utilization, and risk-informed infrastructure planning,” the statement said.
The meeting was attended by delegations from ECO member states including Pakistan, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Representatives of regional and international organizations and development partners were also in attendance.
Discussions focused on enhancing regional coordination, harmonizing disaster risk reduction frameworks, and strengthening collective preparedness against transboundary and climate-induced hazards impacting the ECO region, the PID said.
ECO members states such as Pakistan, Türkiye, Afghanistan and others have faced natural calamities such as floods and earthquakes in recent years that have killed tens of thousands of people.
Heavy rains triggered catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2022 and 2025 that killed thousands of people and caused damages to critical infrastructure, inflicting losses worth billions of dollars.
Islamabad has since then called on regional countries to join hands to cooperate to avert future climate disasters and promote early warning systems to avoid calamities in future.
