Pakistani athlete Shahida Raza, 29, among those killed in migrant boat shipwreck
By Sophia Saifi, Asim Khan and George Ramsay, CNN
Shahida Raza, a football and hockey player who left her native Pakistan to secure medical treatment for her son, was among those killed in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy on Sunday. She was 29.
Also known as “Chinto,” Raza was a member of Pakistan’s national soccer team and previously played for the national field hockey team.
Her close friend, Sumaiya, told CNN that Raza was traveling to Europe illegally in the hope of securing a better future for her three-year-old son with a medical condition. Her family says her son was not on the boat.
“We only want her body back, nothing more,” Sumaiya said. “We have no knowledge of where her body is. No one is giving us any information or telling us what to do.”
At least 64 people died when a wooden boat carrying migrants from Turkey broke apart on rocks off the coast of Calabria on Sunday, at least two of whom were Pakistani nationals.
On Thursday, a spokesperson from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said that 17 Pakistani were rescued and two are still missing.
“Our Embassy in Rome remains actively engaged with the Italian authorities for the welfare of the survivors and transportation of the mortal remains of the deceased,” the spokesperson said.
Raza was a member of the minority Shia Hazara community in the city of Quetta, close to the border with Afghanistan.
She played football for Balochistan United but, despite her status as an international player, was unable to find a job in Pakistan and therefore couldn’t afford her son’s medical treatment, Sumaiya said.
Raza was afraid of water and not even her family were aware of her decision to move to another country, Sumaiya added.
The Shia Hazara community in Pakistan has faced years of persecution by Sunni militant groups in the country.
After a deadly attack in Quetta four years ago, Amnesty International called for further protection for a community who “have suffered many such tragedies over several years. Each time, there are promises that more will be done to protect them, and each time those promises have failed to materialize.”
Tributes have been paid to Raza following her death, including from Aurat March, a prominent women’s right movement in Pakistan, and members of the country’s hockey federation, who “expressed their condolences” to Raza’s family.
According to the International Hockey Federation, Raza made six appearances for Pakistan in 2013.
The ill-fated boat had left the Turkish city of Izmir three or four days before the wreck and the first three bodies washed up on the beach near Staccato di Cutro in southern Italy around 4:40 a.m. local time on Sunday.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni blamed human traffickers for the shipwreck, saying it is “criminal to launch a boat just 20 meters long with 200 people on board in adverse weather.”
Meloni has made stopping migrant boats a priority for her right-wing government. This week, parliament approved new laws making it more difficult for NGOs and humanitarian groups to carry out rescues.
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CNN’s Sophia Saifi and Barbie Latza Nadeau contributed to reporting.
