Ammar Bajwa/Naveed Asghar
Muhammad Sufyan (left) and Mohammad Abid (right) were among those killed when a migrant boat sank off the coast of Greece.
Javed Iqbal, a Pakistani carpenter working in Saudi Arabia, tells BBC Urdu that he deeply regrets his decision to send his 13-year-old son illegally to Europe.
“The agents had sent dozens of boys from the village to Greece and Italy,” he says. “My son, who was stubborn and fell for their tricks, repeatedly told us: 'If you don't send me to Europe, I will leave home.'”
Javed's son, Mohammad Abid, was among five Pakistani nationals confirmed by authorities who died in waters near Greece after three boats carrying migrants capsized last week.
Pakistani authorities have urged parents to prevent their children from embarking on such trips. But that hasn't stopped hundreds of young people from trying.
While 47 victims of the recent disaster have been rescued, according to embassy officials in Greece, the 35 people still missing are now presumed dead after the Greek coast guard called off rescue operations on Wednesday.
BBC Urdu spoke to the grieving families of two victims in central Punjab's Pasrur district.
“When will the day come when I too will go to Europe?”
Of Javed's four children, Abid was the third.
“Abid's older brother and sister go to school, but Abid stopped going,” says Javed, who lives and works in Saudi Arabia.
Over the past two years, several of their relatives, as well as other boys from their village, left for Greece through agents, he added.
All these boys were uploading videos on social media after arriving in Greece. After seeing the videos shared by these boys on social media, Abid asked: “When will the day come when I too will go to Europe?
“I explained to him several times that you are still young, that you can go there when you grow up, but he remained adamant,” says Javed. “I told him to come see me in Saudi Arabia, but his only wish was to go to Europe.”
At a recent press conference, Pakistan's ambassador to Greece, Aamar Aftab Qureshi, expressed surprise that a child was among the five Pakistani nationals who died in the accidents. He added that young children were among the survivors.
“This trend of sending children illegally is extremely dangerous,” he said.
Getty Images
It is common to find the bodies of migrants on the beaches of Greece (archive photo)
But Javed says that every time Abid returned home after meeting these agents, he threatened to leave the house if his mother did not collect money to send him.
“She would make me talk to him on the phone and I would explain it to him. He would accept temporarily, but after a day or two he would go off the rails again,” says Javed.
Javed therefore sold part of his agricultural land and his wife sold some of her jewelry. They paid the agent 2.56 million Pakistani rupees (£7,300; $9,200) to bring Abid to Europe.
Javed says his son arrived in Egypt from Faisalabad airport and then went to Libya, where he stayed for two months and kept in daily contact with his family.
“He was happy and kept saying that there were some difficulties, but they were temporary and he would reach his destination soon,” says Javed. “We didn't know that his destination was not Europe, but death.”
“When there was a rumor that a boat was capsizing in the sea near Greece, we tried to get information but nothing came out,” he recalls.
The family eventually managed to get in touch with a friend in Greece, who went to the migrant hospital and found Abid's body. They also later received a call from the Pakistani embassy in Greece.
“We die every moment”
In Ucha Jajja, another village in central Punjab, another family mourns the death of their son. Irfan Arshad's 19-year-old son Muhammad Sufyan was also killed in the accident, Pakistani authorities in Greece confirmed.
According to Irfan Arshad, the agent deceived them until the last moment, telling them that he was sending their son safely in a boat and that there was no need to worry.
“When we heard in the village that the boat had capsized near Greece, darkness fell before our eyes,” says Irfan. “I feel like I bought my son’s death with my own hands by paying three million rupees.”
Irfan, owner of an oil and fertilizer store, has four sons. Two of them live in Bahrain, while the third son is already in Greece. He sold an acre of land to send his youngest son to Greece.
Naveed Asghar
Sufyan's father paid agents three million Pakistani rupees (£8,500; $10,700) to send him to Europe
The FIA has filed a case of human trafficking against four people following the death of Muhammad Sufyan. According to Irfan's account in the report, after Sufyan was taken to Libya, the agent assured them that Sufyan would soon be transferred to Greece. Instead, Sufyan was kept in a safe house in Libya for two months and given only one meal a day.
“My son caught cholera from eating stale food, which made him very weak,” says Irfan. “Every time we spoke to Sufyan he seemed very worried. We thought maybe it was because he was away from home for the first time and when he arrived in Greece he would be very happy.”
After he was finally put on a boat to Greece, Sufyan's family received a call from his companions regarding his death.
In 2023, a boat carrying illegal immigrants sank in the same region of Greece, resulting in the deaths of 262 Pakistanis. After the tragedy, the authorities promised to take firm action against agents involved in human trafficking.
PM Office
Officials met Wednesday to discuss the issue of human trafficking.
Such sentiments were echoed Wednesday when officials gathered to discuss the latest tragedy. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the repetition of such incidents was a matter of concern for Pakistan and promised to take strict action against those involved in human trafficking.
Abdul Qadir Qamar, regional director of the Federal Investigation Agency, told BBC Urdu that the suspects had been running a human trafficking network in different countries for a long time.
“The investigation carried out so far by the FIA has revealed that the suspects who illegally sent young people abroad to Pasrur belong to the same family,” he said. “And these suspects have so far illegally sent hundreds of people abroad.”
The problem, he said, is that families of boat accident survivors often don't want to take action against officers.
The court has registered 174 cases of human trafficking so far. Only four were convicted.
Irfan says the Pakistani Foreign Ministry told him that Sufyan's body would arrive in Pakistan in early January – but that is too long a wait for his family.
“We are dying every moment,” says Irfan. “Until we see the body of our son, we will neither be alive nor dead.
“How can those whose sons die have peace?”
