Pakistan sacks, blacklists dozens of officials after Mediterranean deaths

Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir was the highest-profile victim in a sweeping organisational purge following the January 1st, at least 43, deaths of Pakistanis off the coast of Morocco, when Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif removed him from his position as the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday.

On January 15, when Moroccan authorities discovered the drowning incident, 36 people were saved after their boat was stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for 13 days. At least 37 others, including several Pakistanis, remain missing.

Just four weeks before that, Greek authorities and merchant navy ships carried out four separate rescue missions near the Greek coast, saving at least 200 people, while close to 50 died, at least 40 of them Pakistanis.

The Sharif-led government’s rare crackdown on officials tasked with stopping the human smuggling networks that lure Pakistanis from rural towns and villages with hopes of a life in Europe and take them on dangerous, illegal migration routes that far too frequently lead to fatalities and tragedies in the Mediterranean.

Before Jahangir’s removal, almost 50 FIA officials were dismissed for alleged negligence related to both the Greece and Morocco incidents. In addition, according to the FIA, more than 50 officials were barred from serving at any immigration checkpoints or anti-human trafficking units nationwide following a government investigation, and several arrests were made against people who helped to build human smuggling networks.

These actions come in response to growing criticism of the government for putting an end to human trafficking and for its apparent disregard for citizens who feel forced to travel to Europe in violation of immigration laws.

A senior government official, who is part of the task force formed by Sharif, said the prime minister was now keenly supervising the government’s response.

“The premier is taking these incidents very seriously. He is aware of the consequences and negative impact on the nation, as well as the tragedy that affects the families of those who pass away or are stranded in remote places, the official told Al Jazeera, requesting anonymity.

“We are focusing on enforcement and prosecution as well as improving our border screening.” Now, smuggling someone out of Pakistan is going to be a daunting task”, the official claimed.

A long history of migration

This is easier said than done, as the recent deaths off Morocco – despite the Sharif administration’s ongoing crackdown – show.

Pakistanis are not brand-new immigrants to Europe. The trend began more than six decades ago, following the construction of Pakistan’s major hydroelectric project, the Mangla Dam.

The initial wave of migrants consisted of those displaced by the dam’s construction. They were compensated by Pakistani and British governments, allowing their relocation to the UK.

Most came from Punjab, Pakistan’s most prosperous and populous province, particularly from cities such as Gujrat, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Mandi Bahauddin and Faisalabad.

According to a study released by the National Commission of Human Rights (NCHR), an independent state body accountable to parliament, in 2023, there are some of the highest rates of undocumented migration in the same areas.

“Among the top 20 districts contributing to 50 percent of the total labour outflows from Pakistan between 1981 and 2021, 13 are in Punjab, six in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one in Sindh, specifically Karachi”, the report noted.

Central Punjab experienced economic growth as a result of its fertile land and industrial expansion, but migration from this region continued, frequently illegally, as a result of European countries’ tightening border controls at the turn of the century.

According to statistics from Frontex, the European Union’s border and coastguard agency, more than 150, 000 Pakistanis have entered European countries using land and sea routes since 2009.

In the 2010s, economic migrants from Pakistan would travel dangerously on foot, sometimes for months, making land-based trips more common. However, as crackdowns intensified, the routes evolved.

While the previous decade saw an influx of refugees into Europe from Afghanistan and Syria, two countries facing prolonged conflict, and from some African nations, Pakistan’s migration numbers remained relatively consistent, with an average of close to 10, 000 undocumented Pakistanis entering Europe each year, according to Frontex.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, new migration routes emerged, making it harder for Pakistani authorities to detect undocumented travellers.

Nearly 300 Pakistanis were killed or declared missing in the June 2023 Adriana boat disaster in the Mediterranean. Families reported to Al Jazeera that their sons had flown from Pakistan to Dubai, Cairo, and then to Libya for a boat trip to Europe.

And if that route was long, the trip that Pakistanis who died off Morocco in January took was even more circuitous: from Pakistan to Dubai, then to Ethiopia, then Senegal, and finally, a road trip up the Atlantic Coast to Mauritania, where they began the boat ride.

Munir Masood Marath, a senior FIA official, explained that the operations of human smugglers, who manage vast networks across multiple countries, are not easy to stop because, on the surface, immigrants do not always come across as “illegal”: Their documents to travel out of Pakistan are legitimate, and officials have no sureshot way of knowing what they intend to do after landing in their first destination.

“People now travel on entirely legitimate grounds. They have a valid passport, a valid visa, and a ticket. In a recent conversation at his place of employment, he said, “There is no reason to stop them at the airport.”

The government official on Sharif’s task force claimed that the Adriana disaster was a significant turning point. &nbsp, The fishing trawler, carrying about 700 people, capsized off the Greek coast near Pylos. Only 104 people survived, including 12 Pakistanis.

“After the 2023 incident, we took a hard look at our operations and began a massive crackdown. The declining number of Pakistanis leaving the country now reflects the findings, he said.

This claim appears to be supported by the statistics. According to FIA figures, about 19, 000 people were stopped from leaving Pakistan in 2022, with most being intercepted on land routes.

By contrast, &nbsp, FIA’s Marath noted that, collectively, in 2023 and 2024, close to 70, 000 people were stopped from leaving Pakistan. In 2024, Pakistanis will reach Europe in about 5, 000 cases, compared to 10, 000 the year before, according to Frontex data.

Marath, who recently returned from Morocco to learn more about the latest tragedy, acknowledged that smugglers were discovering and using new routes in a cat-and-mouse game with authorities.

That is why, he said, the government was now enhancing surveillance and detection mechanisms at the country’s key exit points.

We examine travelers’ past, present, and educational backgrounds to create profiles. If a person’s destination is Egypt, Ethiopia, or Senegal – African countries with minimal cultural or people-to-people ties with Pakistan – it raises alarm bells”, he explained.

The social drivers

According to Frontex, Pakistan consistently ranks among, or close to, the top 10 nations whose citizens have entered Europe illegally over the past ten years.

While the past two years saw the country’s economy teetering on the brink of default, with inflation hitting 38 percent in mid-2023 and poverty rates reaching 39 percent, the government insists economic hardship is not the sole reason for migration.

According to officials, social pressures are more important.

Marath, who is a native of Mandi Bahauddin, a district where irregular migration is prevalent, claimed that the primary causes of the dangerous journeys were family pressure and peer pressure.

“In most cases, families themselves urge their members to find a way to reach Europe”, he said.

“It becomes a matter of competition. Others feel pressured to do the same, he added, either by sending their sons or by buying a car and renovating their homes in Italy.

People from relatively well-off families, including those with prior work experience in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and business owners, were involved in the recent incident in Morocco.

Marath said that while Gulf nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are host to a large Pakistani diaspora working there, for many, their objective is to emulate their cousins who are in European countries.

“Typically, going to the Gulf nations is a backup plan. The dream is Europe. Having family or friends there makes settling in easier”, Marath explained.

A changing landscape

The recent crackdown on officials points to the government’s intent, &nbsp, the senior government official on Sharif’s task force suggested.

The main thing to remember is that we recognize the various factors at play and are working to fix them, the official said.

He added that the government was pursuing their repatriation and that thousands of Pakistanis were still stranded in Libya.

“Libya presents a challenge because there isn’t a well-organized government with various factions enraging different regions. If those still there attempt to cross into Europe, bringing them back will be difficult”, he said. We are optimistic about reducing human trafficking, however, for those who attempt to leave Pakistan for this reason.

However, Marath, the FIA official, said that besides improving enforcement and training for the FIA staff, it was just as important to provide sensitisation and awareness to the people who put their lives at risk “knowingly”.

Source: Aljazeera