ISLAMABAD: Families of some Pakistani victims of a deadly boat disaster in the Mediterranean in 2023 retracted complaints against human smugglers after being lured with offers to send their other children abroad, a Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) official said on Tuesday, highlighting how trafficking networks exploit vulnerable families to evade prosecution.

The disclosure was made during a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, where FIA and Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs officials briefed lawmakers on public complaints, immigration fraud and human smuggling, including challenges in investigating and prosecuting suspected agents.

In June 2023, a fishing trawler overcrowded with migrants sank off Greek island of Pylos in one of the deadliest maritime disasters in the Mediterranean. Around 350 Pakistanis were aboard, according to figures cited by Pakistani officials, and only 12 survived, prompting a crackdown on human smuggling networks in the country.

Briefing the committee members, an FIA director for anti-human smuggling, Asmatullah Junejo, said multiple complaints had been filed against smugglers after the 2023 shipwreck, prompting the agency to take action against those suspected of involvement.

"Unfortunately, those families, the aggrieved ones, who were the victim families, withdrew their FIR (first information report) because it was acknowledged to them [by the smugglers] that their other children would be sent abroad," Junejo told lawmakers, adding that the agency faced legal constraints under its governing laws when pursuing cases without complainants.

The parliamentary affairs ministry raised concerns about the FIA’s handling of public complaints, saying its review found significant discrepancies between the agency’s reported and independently verified resolution rates.

Between July 1, 2025 and Oct. 31, 2026, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs received 144 complaints relating to the FIA through the Prime Minister’s Public Affairs and Grievances Wing. Of these, 86 were referred to the agency, including 67 concerning immigration issues, mainly alleged visa fraud, and 19 involving human trafficking and migrant smuggling.

In its briefing, the FIA said it had closed 34 of the 86 complaints, kept 49 under process and referred three to other law enforcement agencies because they fell outside its jurisdiction.

Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs Secretary Sarah Saeed told the committee that the agency initially reported resolving 17 percent of immigration complaints, but the ministry’s independent verification brought the figure down to 5 percent. Similarly, the reported resolution rate for trafficking and smuggling complaints fell from 32 percent to 16 percent, following the ministry’s review.

Many complainants came from poor and rural backgrounds and had limited education and digital literacy, according to the official. Some had lodged complaints using other people’s phones and could not be subsequently reached when officials sought their response or asked them to visit regional offices.

She urged the FIA to contact complainants through their physical addresses and postal correspondence rather than closing complaints simply because people could not be reached by telephone or travel to an agency office.

The ministry also said its broader quality-assurance review had reduced the combined disposal rate for immigration and trafficking complaints from around 60 percent to 46 percent.

Saeed said about 75 percent of the complaints involved visa fraud, with victims reporting losses ranging from Rs3-6 million ($10,700 to $21,400).

Junejo defended the FIA’s performance, saying the agency had arrested more than 9,000 suspected human smugglers and traffickers between 2022 and 2026, identified 27 transnational gangs and compiled a watchlist of around 200 international agents.

He said the suspects with seven or more cases against them had been identified as "most wanted."

Citing figures from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, known as Frontex, Junejo said irregular migration from Pakistan had declined by 48 percent and that the country was no longer among the top 10 nations of origin for irregular migrants entering Europe.

The FIA also said amendments to Pakistan’s Prevention of Trafficking in Persons Act had made trafficking offences non-compoundable, allowing criminal proceedings to continue despite private settlements between victims and accused persons. He put the agency’s conviction rate at around 15 percent of registered cases.