A boat carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistani nationals, met a tragic fate off the coast of Morocco, leaving at least 50 dead after a harrowing 13-day journey. The passengers, who had hoped to reach Europe, endured starvation, dehydration, and brutal violence at the hands of smugglers, some of whom reportedly threw migrants overboard. According to Helena Maleno of the migrant rights organization Walking Borders, the boat was adrift for nearly two weeks without rescue, leading to the devastating loss of life.
Moroccan authorities managed to save 36 survivors, who are now being held at a camp near the port of Dakhla. Among the survivors are 21 Pakistani nationals, whose names have been released by Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Survivors recounted horrific conditions, with smugglers subjecting them to daily beatings and throwing some passengers into the sea. The boat, which departed on January 2, was bound for Spain’s Canary Islands but became stranded in a remote area of the ocean by January 5.
Azir Butt, a survivor from Gujrat, Punjab, described the ordeal, stating that the smugglers confiscated all supplies, including food, water, and mobile phones, leaving the passengers exposed to the elements. “We were helpless, freezing, and terrified,” Butt said. Another survivor, Mehtab Shah, also from Gujrat, recounted how smugglers brutally attacked four young men from Mandi Bahauddin with hammers before throwing them into the sea. “Every day, the smugglers would arrive on another boat, beat people, and throw them overboard,” Shah said.
The passengers were so weakened by hunger and thirst that they could barely sit up. Many fell gravely ill, with some leaving final messages for their families. Desperate, some resorted to drinking seawater, further deteriorating their health. On January 15, after 13 days at sea, two young men jumped into the ocean as the smugglers returned. The survivors were eventually locked in a room on the boat until a mobile phone call alerted Moroccan authorities, leading to their rescue.
The Spanish Maritime Rescue Service had been informed of a distressed boat near Mauritania’s coast on January 10 but was unable to confirm its location. Walking Borders had also alerted authorities in multiple countries about the missing vessel days earlier. The Moroccan coastguard finally intervened on January 15, rescuing the 36 survivors.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into the incident, with a high-level team dispatched to Morocco. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered three cases against human smugglers involved in illegally transporting migrants abroad. Most of the victims hailed from Sialkot, Gujrat, and Mandi Bahauddin.
Relatives of the deceased, including cousins Atif and Sufyan, shared their grief. Ahsan Shehzad, a relative, revealed that the migrants had paid smugglers 3.5 million rupees ($12,500) each for the journey to Spain. Atif was reportedly killed by the smugglers, while Sufyan succumbed to hunger, illness, and exhaustion on the 13th day.
This tragedy highlights the perilous journeys undertaken by hundreds of Pakistanis each year, many of whom perish while attempting to reach Europe via land and sea routes. In 2023, a boat carrying nearly 350 Pakistanis capsized near Greece, marking one of the deadliest incidents in the Atlantic Ocean. Pakistani authorities continue their crackdown on human smuggling networks, but the risks remain high for those desperate for a better life abroad.
