More than 100 days after being taken hostage by Somali pirates, crew members on board MT Honour 25 have released another distress message in which they appealed directly to the Pakistani government for their release, it emerged on Sunday.
The Honour 25 — a Palau-flagged oil tanker carrying 17 to 19 crew members, including 10 Pakistanis — was hijacked by armed pirates off the coast of Puntland, Somalia on April 21. Despite over three months passing, there has been no progress either in negotiations or the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for the recovery of the hostages, despite concerns abounding about their declining health.
In two video messages seen by Dawn, the Pakistani hostages and foreigners can be seen in a state of extreme distress, with most looking sick and weak.
They requested that the Pakistani government talk to the Somali pirates and take steps to release them.
Yasir Khan, a hostage aboard the ship, said that many of the crew members had fallen ill and had no access to medicine.
He appealed to the government, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry to secure their release “before it is too late” and before they suffered more.
He also appealed to Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman to “please do something for us”, noting he had already made many efforts in this regard.
Hussain Yousuf, another Pakistani hostage, said, “More than a hundred days have passed and still nothing is known about what is happening to us, or what will happen to us.”
He requested the prime minister, as well as Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, to take action before “very bad news” arrived.
Speaking to Dawn on Sunday, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi expressed his grief and regret that the hostages had not yet been released.
He said that an inter-ministerial process was underway on the issue, involving the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and other relevant agencies, who were all continuously monitoring the situation.
“The main challenge is that these individuals are being held in an autonomous region of Somalia,” Andrabi said.
“The operational steps required to secure their release are particularly complex and difficult. The process of negotiating with their captors is also a major challenge.”
He noted that the situation was further complicated by the tribal system and various influential figures in Somali society, among whom were the pirates also involved in kidnapping the crew of the Honour 25.
“However, we hope for a better outcome,” he added, highlighting that Pakistan was in “constant contact” with Somalia’s government, authorities and relevant international organisations.
The FO spokesperson expressed his sympathy for the families and loved ones of the hostages, saying the government understood their pain and concern.
“This matter remains a priority and under our constant monitoring,” Andrabi said, adding that “all possible efforts” were being made to ensure the early repatriation and release of the hostages with the cooperation of relevant ministries and agencies.
Besides the 10 Pakistani crew members, the hostages also include seven Indonesians, including the captain, as well as an Indian and a Sri Lankan.
Since the hijacking, the crew has made several emotional videos and audio appeals, while reporting that they have run out of clean water, food and medicine.
The Pakistani hostages are victims of an “ownership crisis”, as it is not clearly established who owns the ship and the man previously thought to be an owner was later revealed to be more likely a middleman who hired them.
Earlier, under the supervision of the Somali pirates, there were several videos and phone calls to the families of the hostages to pressure them to pay the ransom. But after mid-June, the messages had stopped, until Saturday’s latest appeal.
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