Key facts
- Fourteen men are on trial in Paris for charges related to the 2021 drowning of over 30 migrants in the English Channel.
- The defendants face charges including involuntary manslaughter, facilitating illegal immigration as part of an organized gang, and criminal conspiracy.
- Two alleged leaders of the operation are being tried in absentia.
- The disaster, the deadliest on record for migrants in the Channel, occurred when an overloaded dinghy deflated.
- At least 31 migrants died, with four remaining unaccounted for.
Fourteen suspected people smugglers are on trial in Paris for their role in the worst ever small boats disaster in the English Channel, which killed at least 31 migrants in 2021. The defendants, mainly Afghan nationals, face charges of manslaughter and facilitating illegal immigration as part of an organised criminal group. Two alleged leaders of the operation remain on the run and are being tried in absentia. The boat, described as being of poor quality, overloaded, and equipped with inadequate life-jackets, left the French coast on the evening of November 23, 2021. It ran into difficulty in the middle of the Channel, and occupants entered the water to try to lessen the weight, succumbing to the cold and drowning. Twenty-seven bodies were found, and another four were confirmed missing. The victims were mostly Iraqi Kurds, but also included individuals from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Somalia, Iran, and Vietnam. The youngest named victim was a seven-year-old girl. Lawyers representing the victims' families stated that the smugglers displayed total cynicism and took deliberate risks, knowing the migrants were not sailors. The defendants are accused of organising the journey by lodging and transporting migrants, supplying the boat, and handling payments, but many claim they were also migrants acting under instructions from real organisers. Inquiries on both sides of the Channel followed the disaster. In France, seven military personnel are under investigation for potentially failing to assist persons in danger. A UK inquiry found that HM Coastguard had limited capacity due to chronic staff shortages and underestimated the emergency, concluding the deaths were avoidable.