LAHORE: The federal government and other respondents were sent notices by the Lahore High Court on Thursday, asking them to answer to a petition that sought the creation of a judicial commission to look into the deaths of Pakistanis in a boat capsizing incident in Greece.
A lawyer named Munir Ahmed filed a plea with Justice Asim Hafeez, highlighting the tragic deaths of Pakistanis who were traveling to Greece after their boat overturned.
Azhar Siddique, the petitioner’s attorney, brought up the fact that an overcrowded fishing vessel sank in Greece last year, killing over 300 Pakistanis.
He claimed that the most recent tragedy brought to light the European Union’s refugee issue, in which tens of thousands of people are fleeing poverty, persecution, and war. He emphasized that similar disasters had happened in the past and that this was not a unique incidence.
Two immigration officials are detained by the FIA for their incompetence in the boat accident.
According to him, Pakistan is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades, and attempts to obtain an IMF financial lifeline are made more difficult by the protracted political unrest in the nation.
The lawyer asked which organizations were participating in the unlawful procedure and how Pakistani nationals were being transferred to Greece. He said that no action had been taken against human smugglers and that the government was ignoring the problem. He demanded that the issue be investigated and that those in charge be held accountable.
Following the hearing of arguments, Justice Hafeez sent out notices to the respondents, asking them to submit their responses by January 22.
Due to their carelessness in passenger screening, the FIA has detained two immigration officers stationed at Faisalabad International Airport in relation to the boat capsize incident off the Greek coast.
The tragedy involved 18 illegal immigrants who had come from the airport in Faisalabad.
Following an inquiry into the Greek boat capsize, two FIA immigration officers were arrested, and three human smugglers, including the FIA officials, were charged, according to a statement from the FIA’s Islamabad spokesman.
The spokesperson affirmed that Sub-Inspector Shahid Imran and Inspector Zubair Ashraf were both accused of being negligent and irresponsible in their passenger screening while on duty at Faisalabad International Airport, where they were assigned as shift in-charges.
