Pakistani Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that they will discuss the attitude of the Greek Coast Guard personnel with the Athens administration regarding the migrant boat disaster off the coast of Greece.
Speaking to Geo News television, Sanaullah stated that Pakistanis who survived the disaster shared their sad experiences and underlined the seriousness of the situation.
Sanaullah stated that they will discuss the attitude of the Greek Coast Guard personnel with the Athens administration, and that the human smuggling investigation in Pakistan continues.
Drawing attention to the deteriorating human trafficking issue, Sanaullah stressed that the government is seeking international cooperation in tackling this problem.
Disaster off the coast of Greece
On 14 June, 47 nautical miles from Navarino in the Peloponnese, Greece, a fishing boat carrying irregular migrants capsized in international waters.
81 people lost their lives in the incident, 104 people were rescued and brought to Kalamata Port. Among the dead are citizens of Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Palestine.
According to the nonprofit Alarm Phone, there were about 700 people on board.
It is feared that the death toll will increase as search and rescue efforts continue.
The claim that Greece made the boat wait for 7 hours
Based on tracking data from the global ship tracking intelligence site MarineTraffic, the BBC claimed that the boat had been sitting still at sea for about 7 hours.
Greek Coast Guard teams, on the other hand, denied the accusations and argued that the boat stopped for a total of 4.5 hours to get water and food supplements from 2 nearby tankers, and advanced 6 more nautical miles at low speed after resupply.
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.
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