Four Pakistanis among 11 migrants die in boat capsize near Libyan coast

ISLAMABAD: In yet another unfortunate incident of boat capsize, at least 11 migrants, including four Pakistani nationals, have died near the Harawa coast, east of the Libyan city of Sirte.

The incident occurred on 12th April, according to a report submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the Pakistan embassy in Tripoli.

“Our mission in Tripoli has reported that a vessel carrying foreign nationals has sunk near the Harawa coast, Sirte City (Eastern Libya). A Pakistan embassy team’s visit to Sirte City has confirmed the recovery of 11 bodies of migrants. Two bodies remain unidentified,” said the Foreign Office.

The deceased Pakistani nationals have been identified as Zahid Mehmood s/o Liaqat Ali from Gujranwala with passport number LY0161441, Sameer Ali s/o Raja Abdul Qadeer from Mandi Bahauddin with passport number RS1825681, Syed Ali Hussain s/o Shafqat ul Hussnain from Mandi Bahauddin with passport number JG6912511, and Asif Ali s/o Nazar Muhammad from Mandi Bahauddin with passport number RS182568.

“The embassy in Tripoli is actively working to gather more information about the affected Pakistani nationals and is in contact with the local authorities,” added the Foreign Office. The Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been activated to monitor the situation. The families can contact the authorities concerned through phone no 051-9207887 and email: cmu1@mofa.gov.pk. The emergency contact details at the embassy are Ashique Ali, HOC: +92-305-2185882, and Hassan Saleem, PRO: +218-91-8644064, Islamabad. In February this year, the Foreign Office confirmed the deaths of 16 Pakistani nationals in a boat accident off the coast of Libya and reported that at least 10 remain missing.

Thirteen Pakistanis lost their lives in year 2024 when a boat carrying 80 passengers capsized near Morocco. The Mediterranean remains one of the deadliest migration routes. In June 2023, an Italy-bound fishing trawler carrying around 800 people capsized off Greece, with estimates suggesting that up to 300 Pakistanis were among the victims. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that in 2024 alone at least 674 migrants died, and over 1,000 remain missing off Libya’s coast. Many of those intercepted by the Libyan authorities end up in detention centres, according to the UN investigations. Pakistanis also made nearly 5,000 attempts to enter Europe illegally in 2024, data from the EU’s border and coast guard agency Frontex indicates.