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Left to die by Greece coastguards, Pakistan survivors say boat was deliberately sunk

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  • “We did not sink for five days…so why would we sink now?”: survivors.
  • It sunk because of one-maund-rope thrown into ship, say survivors.
  • Account, independent research poke hole in Greek govt’s account.

Pakistani survivors on the ill-fated boat that capsised off the Greece coast have blamed Greek coastguards for the incident, saying the ship — carrying hundreds of people — was deliberately sunk and no rescue was provided.

The video account of the victims exposed the inhuman attitude of Greece authorities in the last hours leading to the tragedy.

Authorities in Europe still have no clear idea how many people were aboard the boat when it sank — estimates range from 400 to over 700 — but likely hundreds came from Pakistan, and many from Azad Jammu Kashmir.

The accounts of two Pakistani survivors emerged days after the tragic incident.

“They have done this [on purpose]. They have sunk it themselves,” one of the survivors said, while the other added that they had been still for five days and six nights before the ship sunk “in a minute”.

“We did not sink for five days […] so why would we sink now?”

They recounted that the ship’s engine had broken down, leaving them still for almost a week.

“We did not drown even though our engine had [completely] shut down. On the sixth night, around 2:30am [… ] I checked the time; it was 2:15am. Around 10 minutes later, this incident occurred,” one of them said, adding, “It [the boat] sunk because of the one-maund-rope they threw into the boat.”

They further alleged that they did not help despite the presence of two-speed boats, one cargo boat and one receiving ship at the location.

This statement endorsed an independent investigation reported by BBC that poked holes in the Greece authorities’ account of the incident.

An analysis of the movement of other ships in the area suggests that the boat remained stationary for at least seven hours before drowning.

Although the Greek authorities did not respond to BBC’s findings, they have insisted that the boat was on course to Italy and did not need rescuing.

EU’s border force Frontex said it first spotted the ship at around 8GMT and informed Greek authorities.

Alarm Phone, an emergency hotline for migrants in trouble at sea, said they received a call at 12:17 GMT saying the boat was in distress.

On Sunday, Pakistan officials said 10 suspected human traffickers had been arrested, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed “severe punishment” for those involved in the trade.

Pakistan is in economic freefall. A dire downturn — caused by decades of mismanagement and political instability — has drained dollar reserves, spurred runaway inflation and caused widespread factory closures.

The desperate situation is creating an incentive for Pakistanis to take perilous, illegal routes to Europe.

Prime Minister Sharif announced a national day of mourning for those who perished — local media say as many as 300 Pakistanis could have been aboard.

‘Pakistani nationals forced below deck’

A report in a UK-based newspaper claimed the ship’s crew forced Pakistani nationals to remain below the deck, where the chances of survival were less.

“The testimonies suggest women and children were effectively ‘locked up’ in the hold, ostensibly to be ‘protected’ by men on the overcrowded vessel,” the Guardian report said.

The report mentioned that the Pakistanis were maltreated “when they appeared in search of freshwater or tried to escape” from the hold.

The Guardian report claimed that the situation on the vessel was so “bleak that even before it sank there had already been six deaths after it ran out of fresh water”.

The publication, quoting a Moroccan-Italian activist, said the people onboard the vessel cried out for help.

“I can testify that these people were asking to be saved by any authority,” she said.

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According to Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, accusations made against Pakistan by Bushra Bibi, the spouse of the PTI founder, are vile and disgusting because Pakistan has historical relations to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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The defense minister stated at a press conference in Islamabad that the Kingdom should not be involved in politics for selfish reasons because of our historical, religious, and economic ties with Saudi Arabia.

2.8 million Pakistanis work in Saudi Arabia and send millions of dollars in remittances, he added, adding that making unfounded accusations against the country will hurt Pakistan’s economy.

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Given the gravity of the accusation, the Minister said, former Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa should respond right away.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government should fight terrorism rather than target the city, he said, adding that the PTI’s demand for a demonstration on November 24 is the third strike on the federal capital.

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The Interior Ministry prohibits KP from using government machinery for PTI protests.

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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is not allowed to use the resources of the Provincial Government for a party protest, according to the Interior Ministry.

On November 24, the PTI has scheduled a protest, and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur has declared his intention to participate.

The Federal Government arrested a number of Provincial Government officials who were ordered to participate in the violent protest in Islamabad by the PTI, and confiscated vehicles used by the KP Government against the state during the previous protest in October.

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In the petition, the head of the Traders Union has asked the court to rule that the PTI protest violates fundamental human rights by preventing companies from operating and removing the public’s ability to visit stores for necessities.

The petition asked the high court to protect the capital’s workers and PTI founder from unlawful protests.

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Planning Minister: The Nation Is Back on Track for Development

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Ahsan Iqbal, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development, asserts that the country’s youth are its future and that Pakistan has made great strides over the past 77 years, becoming the sixth nuclear state in the world today.

Speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal stated that inconsistent policies have an impact on the development process.

According to Ahsan Iqbal, the CPEC got Pakistan on its path to growth, and the government is currently moving on with phase two of the project.

The country was in danger of defaulting, but the government has put it back on course, he said.

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