Libya boat tragedy victims' bodies arrive
Bodies of two more Pakistani nationals, who died in a migrant boat capsizing off the eastern coast of Libya on the night between April 12 and 13, arrived at Lahore Airport on Sunday.
The tragedy is the latest in a series of similar incidents in recent years, where hundreds of Pakistanis have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean while attempting to reach Europe via Africa.
The victims were identified as Sufyan and Nadeem Ahmed, both residents of Gujranwala. State Minister for Public Affairs Rana Mubashir Hussain and Punjab Assembly Member Imran Javed received the bodies at the airport.
The remains were later handed over to the grieving families. Prayers were also offered for the departed souls.
Minister Hussain expressed deep sorrow and extended heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. Meanwhile, the FIA, Gujranwala Zone, has launched at least three separate inquiries into the incident.
The FIA launched a massive crackdown against human smugglers and traffickers after PM Shehbaz Sharif took notice of boat capsizing incidents near Greece in November last year in which illegal Pakistani immigrants were among the people who lost their lives.
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During the floods, and despite the heroic response by the government, the people, by civil society, NGOs and the support and generosity of the international community, what I witnessed in the remote areas of flood-hit communities was decades of under-development and history of marginalisation and abject poverty that I have not seen anywhere else I had served up to painful misery I witnessed preceded the floods. How can a country with such extraordinary talent, beauty and soul still have 26 million children out of school? How is it that 40% of its children suffer from stunting? How can we accept that women - who carry the burden and promise of the nation - remain on the margins, with labour force participation just over 20%? How can a society progress when half of its population is excluded from economic life, from leadership, from public spaces? This is not a resource deficit. It is a structure that fails to unlock the brilliance within. Moreover, Pakistan now faces a climate crisis that threatens the very lifeline of the country: For over 5,000 years, the Indus River has nurtured civilisations, sustained communities and shaped the identify of this land and this region. As glaciers recede and weather patterns become more erratic, the future of the Indus - and with it, the future of Pakistan - hangs in the balance. The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it is here, reshaping lives and landscapes in real time and breathing toxic air into the wombs of mothers and the lungs of yet to born children. The heartbreaking truth is that, too often, the ideals that inspired Pakistan - justice, equality, dignity - feel out of reach. The spirit of Islam, of compassion and fairness, enjoining good and prohibiting evil, the principles with which Pakistan was created is often absent in the institutions meant to uphold it. And for the poor, basic justice feels like a rarely granted privilege. This is the defeat that hurts the most. Because this nation is capable of so much more. And yet, I leave hopeful. Hopeful because of the people. That the spirit of generosity I've witnessed will translate into systems that serve and work for everyone. That the unmatched talent of Pakistan's people - men and women - will finally be free to shape the future. That is the hope I carry. The dream of Pakistan; if it ever flickers, it is kept alive by its people. I may have come and been defeated - but I leave inspired. I believe the next decades can be Pakistan's finest. That the brilliance, the kindness, the courage of its people will carry it forward - past the barriers of inequality and towards a future worthy of its history, future worthy of its potential, future worthy of its children. Abdullah Fadil The writer is the UNICEF Representative in Pakistan
