Dying to leave: Why Pakistanis are risking their lives to reach Europe

Dying to leave: Why Pakistanis are risking their lives to reach Europe

ISLAMABAD — When Amir Ali left the narrow alleys of his village in Pakistan’s Punjab province last summer for the plazas of Spain, he thought his dream of a better life was finally coming true. The 21-year-old had failed seven times before to get a visa for countries in Europe and the Middle East. Six months later, in mid-January, Ali was one of 22 Pakistani men whom Moroccan authorities rescued from a stranded migrant boat in the Atlantic Ocean…