France: Accused Smugglers are Put on Trial for Lethal Channel Mishap

In relation to the deadliest small-boat tragedy in English Channel history, fourteen Lethal alleged people-smugglers will go on trial in France on Tuesday. In November 2021, their inflatable dinghy sank, killing twenty-seven passengers, the majority of whom were Iraqi Kurds. There are still four unaccounted-for passengers. There were only two survivors.

The two survivors said that after many hours at sea, their fragile boat started to deflate and take on water. Despite making almost a dozen frantic calls for assistance to French and British emergency authorities, passengers fell overboard and drowned one after another.

The fatalities, who ranged in age from 7 to 46, were primarily Iraqi Kurds but also included Egyptians, Afghans, and Ethiopians. Afghanistan is where the majority of the defendants were born. As members of an organised crime ring, they are accused of manslaughter and aiding illegal immigration.

The enormous death toll and the sheer number of civil parties involved—114 in total including the families of the victims and about a dozen relatives who travelled from Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, make the trial especially significant.

Authorities in France and Britain are also being investigated for failing to assist someone who was in danger. Some of the deaths would have been “avoidable” if the authorities had responded sooner to save those on board, according to a UK investigation conducted earlier this year.

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