TRAGICALLY, though not unexpectedly, there are more Pakistani bodies in the waters off Greece this month. They include a 13-year-old boy from Pasrur, who insisted on the dangerous trip, enticed by social media images of life in Europe posted by other boys from his village who had illegally emigrated. Up to 40 of our compatriots are feared dead in this horrific accident.

The prime minister has declared such incidents damaging for Pakistan’s global image. Surely, we should be concerned about more than PR when our youth believe their best hope lies in foreign lands, across treacherous waters, and their parents pay millions to fund what could be a fatal misadventure.

To be fair, the PM also called for action against human traffickers, including aga­inst those FIA officials who facilitate this illicit movement. Writing in these pages, Aasim Sajjad Akhtar reiterated why a crac­k­down against people smugglers would be futile: as long as elite privilege persists, desperate youth will do what they can — however perilous — to improve their lot in life. A crackdown would also fail because of a broader sense of complacency and callousness towards human trafficking.

Recent boat tragedies have led to a narrow conception of people smuggling........

© Dawn