Families mourn Pakistani youths who died in shipwreck off Greece

Of Javed’s four children, Abid was the third.

“Abid’s elder brother and sister go to school, but Abid stopped going to school,” says Javed, who lives and works in Saudi Arabia.

Over the past two years, several of their relatives, as well as other boys from their village, have gone to Greece through agents, he added.

All these boys would upload videos on social media after they arrived in Greece. After seeing social media videos shared by these boys, Abid would ask, “When will the day come when I too will go to Europe?”

“I explained to him many times that you are still young, you can go when you grow up, but he remained adamant,” says Javed. “I told him to come to me in Saudi Arabia, but his only wish was to do go Europe.”

In a recent press conference, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Greece, Aamar Aftab Qureshi, expressed surprise that a child was among the five Pakistani nationals who died in the accidents. He added that young children were among the survivors.

“This trend of sending children illegally is extremely dangerous,” he said.