Greece | Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has taken action against over 100 officials for collusion with human smugglers since the 2023 Greece boat tragedy, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control was informed on Tuesday. At least 209 people drowned and hundreds more were feared dead or missing after their overloaded boat capsized and sank in the open seas off Greece, in one of Europe’s deadliest shipping disasters in June 2023. Briefing the committee today, FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar said 132 enquiries were initiated, leading to 68 major and 36 minor penalties for officials who failed to follow the standard profiling mechanism and facilitated illegal migration. He said 22,136 passengers were offloaded in 2026 after a strict assessment based on risk profiles. Deportations have also declined, with cases involving fake or forged documents dropping from 281 in 2024 to 13 so far in 2026. “In 2024, a total of 35,459 passengers were offloaded, whereas deportatio...

ATHENS: Twenty-two migrants hoping to reach Europe from North Africa have died off the coast of Greece after six days at sea in a rubber boat, survivors told the Greek coastguard on Saturday. The coastguard said 26 people, including a woman and a minor, were rescued by a Euro­pean border agency vessel off the island of Crete. The coastguard later said that 21 Bangladeshis, four South Sudanese and a Chadian citizen had emer­ged from the ordeal alive. Survivors said the bodies of those who had died were thrown into the Mediterranean sea on the orders of one of the people smugglers aboard the ship. Two survivors were tak­en to hospital in Heraklion on Crete, the coastguard said. Based on survivor statements, the coastguard said the boat had left Tobruk, a port city in eastern Libya, on March 21, bound for Greece, the ga­­teway for many migrants hoping for asylum in the European Union. “During the journey, the passengers lost their bearings and rem­a­­ined at sea for six days without fo­­od or water,” the coastgu...

The Federal Ministry of Interior on Monday dismissed 13 officers on charges of negligence, corruption and misconduct—many linked to the 2023 Greece boat tragedy—after rejecting their appeals against disciplinary action.