Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has stated that its embassy in Morocco reported a boat carrying 80 passengers, including several Pakistanis, had departed from Mauritania.

More than 40 Pakistanis are feared to have drowned following the capsizing of a boat off the Atlantic coast of West Africa, a region that has become a major departure point for irregular migrants attempting to reach Europe.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident and emphasized the urgent need for strict measures to combat human trafficking. His remarks came in a statement issued late Thursday after Walking Borders, a Spain-based migrant rights group, reported that 50 people had died en route to the Canary Islands, 44 of whom were Pakistani nationals. According to the group, the ill-fated journey began on January 2.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also conveyed his condolences over the loss of lives in the tragedy.

According to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, its embassy in Morocco had reported that the boat, carrying 80 passengers including several Pakistanis, departed from Mauritania and capsized near Dakhla, a Moroccan-controlled port city in the disputed Western Sahara region.

Almost all the Pakistani passengers on the boat hailed from cities in the eastern Punjab province. Family members of the victims have begun gathering at their homes, with some survivors reportedly contacting their families. Officials confirmed these developments.

In Daska, a city in Punjab, the families of two men shared their devastating ordeal. They revealed that they had sold property to raise millions of rupees to pay human traffickers in hopes of sending Arslan Ahmed and Mohammad Arfan to Europe for better job opportunities. Ahmed's mother shared that although relatives of some survivors had informed her that her son was alive, she had yet to establish direct contact with him. Razia Bibi, Arfan’s mother, made an emotional appeal to authorities to locate her son and bring him home.

The World’s Deadliest Migration Route

While millions of people migrate to Europe legally each year, fewer than 240,000 individuals crossed European borders irregularly in 2024, according to Frontex, the European Union's border agency. However, as Mediterranean migration routes have become heavily monitored, asylum seekers have increasingly turned to more perilous alternatives, such as the West African route to Spain’s Canary Islands.

Frontex reported that over 50,000 migrants made the journey from northwest Africa to the Canary Islands in 2024, including 178 Pakistanis. Walking Borders highlighted in a recent report that 9,757 people have died or gone missing attempting to cross this route, dubbing it “the deadliest in the world.”

Although the Canary Islands lie just 105 kilometers from the nearest point in Africa, many migrants attempt far longer and more hazardous journeys to evade detection by security forces. The majority of departures in 2024 originated from Mauritania, located at least 762 kilometers from El Hierro, the nearest Canary Island.

Ongoing Response Efforts

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that several survivors, including Pakistani nationals, are currently housed in a camp near Dakhla. The country’s embassy in Morocco is working closely with local authorities, and officials have traveled to Dakhla to assist survivors.

While the ministry has not provided an official count of Pakistani fatalities, it assured that efforts are underway to support the affected families. Ministry officials were unavailable for further comment on Friday.