Pakistan sacks, blacklists dozens of officials after Mediterranean deaths

Almost 150,000 Pakistanis have arrived in Europe through irregular migration since 2009, according to the European Union’s border and coastguard agency Frontex [Borja Suarez/Reuters]

Islamabad, Pakistan – When Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif removed Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir from his position as the chief of the country’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday, he became the highest-profile casualty in a sweeping organisational purge following the deaths of at least 43 Pakistanis off the coast of Morocco earlier in January.

The drowning incident came to light on January 15, when Moroccan authorities rescued 36 people after their boat was stranded in the Mediterranean Sea for 13 days. At least 37 others, including several Pakistanis, remain missing.