GUJRAT: The names of eight human traffickers and their abetters involved in the Mauritania-Morocco boat tragedy causing death of some 44 Pakistanis have been included in the Immigration Stop List at all Pakistani airports and border crossings.

The move, initiated by the Federal Investigation Agency’s Gujranwala zone, is meant to block the exit of human traffickers belonging to Gujrat, Sialkot and Gujranwala districts of the region, says a senior FIA official.

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, he said that the names of those who had already been booked in different cases lodged with the FIA crime circles of Gujrat and Gujranwala, were included in the stop list so that they could not flee the country.

The Gujranwala FIA circle on Saturday lodged another case of the African boat tragedy against two human traffickers of Gujranwala – Usman alias Shani of Thatha Azam and Rana Waqar Zafar of Sialkot Road – on the complaint of Muhammad Khalid of Ladheywala Goraya.

The complainant alleged that he had sent his two sons — Haroon Shahzad and Aziz — through agents Usman and Waqar for Rs5 million each and as per deal the agents were to receive the entire amount after his sons reached Spain in September last.

However, as soon as his sons reached Mauritania, the agents started demanding the entire amount of Rs10 million which he paid but lost contact with his sons since December last, said Khalid and added that his son Haroon had been killed in Mauritania boat tragedy whereas Aziz was still in Mauritania for whose return he had been making efforts.

He said the agents had also snatched a sum of $2,000 from his son.

He said the agents had sent his sons from Faisalabad airport to Ethiopia via Dubai (United Arab Emirates) from where they were taken to Senegal and Mauritania for further travel towards Spain.

Earlier, FIA’s Gujrat circle lodged two different cases against traffickers Fahad alias Fahdi Gujjar of Jaura Karnana and his mother Ghulam Fatima who was arrested by the FIA in a raid on Friday since the woman would use to collect money from the clients of her son.

At least 28 of the victims of fresh tragedy belong to four neighbouring villages of Jaura Karnana, Dhola and Ghurko etc of Gujrat and only two of them could survive.

As per the sources in FIA and local administration, 12 of the deceased immigrants belonged to aforementioned villages of Gujrat whereas some hailed from Sialkot and Gujranwala.

As per media reports out of 65 Pakistanis, 44 are either feared drowned or killed by African human traffickers who demanded more money from the immigrants on board the ship.

It is learnt that the agents had explored the African route since Pakistanis did not require visa to enter these countries and only a simple air ticket and some show money was required to reach these countries.

However, sources said that the FIA authorities have launched thorough investigation into the newly-adopted route by the human traffickers as there were reports of some human traffickers moving to Mauritania from Libya after authorities put more restrictions on travellers towards Libya in the wake of two shipwrecks off the Libyan Coast in June 2023 and December 2024, killing dozens of Pakistani immigrants.

Meanwhile, the FIA has arrested migrant smuggler Abdul Islam hailing from Bhimber district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

He was wanted in a 2018 case lodged with the Gujrat circle.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025