President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have emphasized on the need to speed up measures to combat human trafficking.

In their separate statements, they expressed deep sorrow and grief over the death of Pakistani nationals in a boat capsizing incident near Greece.

The Prime Minister instructed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to submit an inquiry report of the incident as soon as possible.

He said concrete steps should be taken to prevent such incidents in future.

Shehbaz Sharif said human trafficking is a heinous crime that claims many lives and destroys many homes every year.   

He said human traffickers are a cruel mafia which extorts money from poor people by showing them false dreams.

Shehbaz Sharif said such people should be identified and punished severely so that they may not repeat such heinous acts. 

In his statement, President Asif Ali Zardari said human trafficking is a heinous practice as people lose their loved ones in it.

The President offered condolences to the families of the deceased and prayed for fortitude to them.