KARACHI: Families of 10 Pakistani sailors, held by Somali pirates for more than four months, on Saturday protested in Karachi to demand their release, with one of the relatives warning they would go on a hunger strike if the government failed to secure release of their loved ones.

The Pakistanis were among the crew of a Palau-flagged oil tanker, MT Honour 25, when it was seized by pirates off Somalia’s Puntland region on April 21. Their relatives have repeatedly appealed to Pakistani authorities to secure their release as the captivity has stretched to nearly 140 days.

“Four and a half months is a long time, and we are tired now,” Ambreen Yousuf, whose husband Syed Hussain Yousuf was the ship’s second engineer, told Arab News at the protest in Karachi’s Numaish area.

“That is why we have come out for this protest, and I appeal to the government to safely bring back these ten Pakistanis as soon as possible. Their families are worried.”

The protest came less than two weeks after Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar met International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez in London and sought “urgent and effective institutional intervention” for the early return of the sailors.

In August, Dar also chaired a high-level meeting on the case and directed Pakistani officials to intensify diplomatic engagement with Somali authorities, international organizations and other partners to facilitate the sailors’ release.

But relatives at Saturday’s protest said they had received little information about progress on those efforts and had been unable to communicate with the sailors for around a month and a half.

“It has been almost 140 days, and there is still no news about our people,” Mahwish Yasir, whose husband Yasir Khan is among the captive sailors, told Arab News.

“Our last communication with them was a month and a half ago. Since then, we haven’t spoken to them at all.”

Yasir said the lack of communication had left the families uncertain about the sailors’ health and living conditions and warned they could escalate their protest if they continued to receive no answers.

“Now, our last resort will be that if the government still doesn’t give us an answer, we will go on a hunger strike,” she said.

Ayesha Ameen, whose husband Ameen bin Shams is also among the captives, said prolonged captivity of the sailors was taking a toll on their children.

“This is my four-year-old daughter and I have an eight-month-old son. I am sitting on the streets,” she said. ““You tell me, what impact will all this have on their young minds?”

Pakistan’s government has maintained that it is pursuing diplomatic efforts to secure the sailors’ release.

The Foreign Office in Islamabad previously said the ship owner and Somali authorities were in contact with the pirates, while Pakistan had asked them to ensure food, drinking water and other necessities reached the crew.

Officials have also said a law enforcement operation to free the sailors would be difficult because the tanker is carrying potentially dangerous cargo.

Obaidullah Khan, brother of captive sailor Rafiullah Khan, said his brother was the sole breadwinner of his family, which includes three children.

“We are wandering from pillar to post,” Khan said. “The government has not contacted us at all. They should at least give us a day, a month, or even a week, just tell us a date when they will return.”

For these families, the uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones has become increasingly difficult to bear.

“Our only request is please, get our people released as soon as possible,” Ameen said. “How much more will you test our patience?“