Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday formed a high-level committee to probe the tragic incident of a migrant boat that capsized off the coast of Greece, killing at least 79 people.
Sharif instructed law enforcement agencies to trace those involved in human smuggling in Pakistan.
“In an unfortunate incident on June 14, a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece resulting in the deaths of Pakistani nationals along with other nationals. The number of casualties is still being ascertained,” according to a notification released by the prime minister’s office.
The committee was tasked with identifying loopholes and lapses in the law enforcement mechanism, which led to Pakistanis being exposed to human trafficking in this case and other similar cases of the past, according to the notification.
It would analyze past similar incidents and actions taken so far, and take stock of the existing legal framework, enforcement measures and international coordination to control and punish human smuggling and to prepare short-and long-term recommendations to apprehend human smugglers, said the notification.
Separately, Sharif, while expressing his grief on the tragic incident, has ordered a day of mourning on Monday, with the national flag to be flown at half-mast, according to the prime minister’s office.
A deadly shipwreck happened off Greek shores on Wednesday, leaving at least 79 passengers dead, the Greek national news agency reported.