Following an examination into the recent boat accident in Greece, departmental action has been taken against a number of Federal Examination Agency (FIA) personnel and officials who were found to have participated in human trafficking.

A sub-inspector, three ASIs, eleven head constables, and three constables were among the 18 FIA personnel and officials implicated in the case who were removed from the district during the first phase. Additionally transferred is Ali Zaidi, Additional Director (Immigration) at Sialkot Airport.

Gujrat, Gujranwala, and Sialkot were the posts for all of the suspected officers and bureaucrats when a notification of their transfers was sent out. The extra responsibility of Sialkot airport has been assigned to Kartarpur DD Muhammad Nauman.

The FIA officers and officials who were discovered to have been involved in the boat accident in Greece arrived at the agency’s headquarters in the meantime. They will personally come before the DG to make their case.

38 cops and officials who were allegedly engaged in the event reportedly showed up when the FIA DG was summoned. The DG is expected to personally investigate each of these individuals. Action would be taken against these officials and officers if they were proven guilty.

The 38 officers who came before the DG comprised inspectors, sub-inspectors, ASIs, and officials who were assigned to the Karachi, Gujranwala, Multan, and Faisalabad zones.

Recently, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of the prime minister regarding the deaths of Pakistanis in the boat accident in Greece and the prevention of human trafficking.

During the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif expressed anger over the slackness in taking action against the elements responsible after the 2023 boat accident and directed action to be taken against the officers involved in the negligence.

PM Sharif had said that a painful incident took place in the same area of ​​Greece last year in which 262 Pakistanis had died. “Human trafficking brings shame to Pakistan worldwide, so concrete steps are needed to stop it,” he had remarked, adding that the recurrence of such incidents due to the lack of action was a matter of concern.

On the other hand, the Spanish group, Caminando Fronteras, which works for the rights of migrants, has said in its latest report that 30 people died every day this year while trying to reach Spain by boat.

According to the report, more than 10,000 migrants lost their lives trying to reach Spain by sea and land routes in search of a better life. The majority of those killed hail from African countries, while other immigrants belonged to 28 countries around the world, including Pakistan.