Suspected smugglers on trial over deadliest migrant tragedy in France

A criminal trial in Paris opened on Tuesday against 14 men accused of involvement in the deadliest Channel crossing on record, in which dozens of migrants and asylum seekers drowned while attempting to reach the United Kingdom. The proceedings involve 114 civil parties, among them relatives of the victims, and are expected to run for around three weeks.

Prosecutors have brought counts including manslaughter and facilitating illegal immigration as part of an organised gang. Only nine of the accused were present at the first hearing; one was in custody and two suspects have so far evaded French authorities and will be tried in absentia. Investigators have linked the crossing to smuggling networks operating among Afghan and Iraqi Kurdish groups, arranging departures from camps in northern France.

Court documents say 27 people died after the inflatable dinghy they were on began taking on water in busy shipping lanes on November 24, 2021; two men survived and four others were recorded as missing. Other accounts have put the death toll at least 31. The victims were mainly Iraqi Kurds and included nationals of Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Egypt and Vietnam, ranging in age from seven to 46.

Prosecutors say the vessel used was uncertified, unsafe for open sea navigation, overcrowded and lacked adequate lifejackets. A French fishing boat reported seeing bodies floating near UK waters and alerted authorities, according to court records. A survivor gave a statement saying they had tried to bail water from the dinghy in the early hours but the boat capsized. A UK inquiry published in February found some of the deaths could have been avoided and concluded a French naval vessel did not respond to an alert from the UK coastguard; despite numerous distress calls to both countries' rescue services, the dinghy was not found for almost 12 hours.