The Pakistani government has dispatched a high-level investigation team to Morocco to look into the tragic deaths of at least 44 Pakistani migrants in a boat accident off the Moroccan coast.

The team departed from Islamabad on Saturday and will conduct a thorough investigation into the incident, which has raised serious concerns regarding human smuggling operations.

The investigation will take the team to the Moroccan cities of Rabat and Dakhla, where they will meet with survivors of the ill-fated vessel.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif authorized the formation of the team, which includes representatives from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The boat, which set sail from Mauritania on January 2, was carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, on a perilous journey to Spain’s Canary Islands.

The vessel capsized off the Moroccan coast, with more than 40 Pakistani nationals feared dead. Moroccan authorities conducted a rescue operation, saving 36 individuals, while others did not survive.

The CEO of the migrant rights organization Walking Borders, Helena Maleno, stated that as many as 50 migrants may have drowned in the incident, with 44 of them being Pakistani.

She further revealed that the migrants had been stranded at sea for 13 days without rescue, intensifying the tragedy.

Walking Borders disclosed that the boat had been missing for several days prior to the alarm being sounded.

The organization notified authorities in all relevant countries about the boat’s disappearance six days ago.

Additionally, the non-governmental organization Alarm Phone, which assists migrants in distress at sea, reached out to Spain’s maritime rescue service on January 12, but the service reportedly lacked information regarding the boat.

As many as 50 migrants, many of them Pakistanis, may have drowned in wreck involving people trying to make the crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands, migrant rights group Walking Borders said on January 16.

Similarly, on February 2023, four Pakistani citizens went missing and 16 survived after a boat carrying migrants to Europe crashed on rocks near the southern Italian coast, killing dozens.

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