Victims of the worst ever English Channel migrant boat disaster paid at least £2,500 each for a place on the doomed dinghy, a court heard. The horrific details of the flimsy dinghy's last minutes were outlined on Tuesday, the first day of a criminal trial of 14 alleged people smugglers. The alleged smugglers, mostly Afghans, are accused of organising the fatal journey in November 2021.
Charges and Denials
The defendants face prison sentences for a variety of charges, including involuntary manslaughter, facilitating illegal immigration as part of an organised gang and criminal conspiracy. All have denied wrongdoing and claimed they were asylum seekers who hoped to reach countries such as Britain one day.
Prosecutors at the Paris Correctional Court outlined how Afghan and Iraqi-Kurd smuggling networks had "sourced" their clients from around the world, and charged "at least £2,500" for a spot on the boat. They died after the overloaded dinghy collapsed, and no-one came to their rescue.
Recovery and Victims
A French fishing vessel finally alerted emergency services after spotting bodies floating in the sea near Calais. The recovery effort managed to rescue two men while 27 victims were found and at least four were never located. The victims were from Afghanistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia as well as Kurds from Iran and Iraq.
A prosecution opening statement read: "The migrants had been packed on to a flimsy dinghy that was non-certified and unfit for open-sea navigation, and was not equipped with enough life jackets." Two of the defendants managed to escape French authorities and are now being tried in absentia. Evidence against the defendants includes mobile-phone data, records from surveillance operations as well as witness statements from survivors and relatives of victims.
Night of the Sinking
On the night of the sinking – November 23, 2021 – 46-year-old Ethiopian Fikiru Tekalegn wrote a text message to his wife reading: 'We’re attempting a crossing; goodbye.' She replied: 'May God help you', but never heard from him again, the court heard.
A British inquiry concluded that a French naval vessel failed to respond to a call for help from the UK coastguard, which in turn made a "number of flawed decisions," such as ending a search for survivors too early. The prosecuting statement added: "Justice must hold to account everyone who played a role in this tragedy."
Five members of France's maritime surveillance and rescue centre, CROSS, near Calais, and two sailors from a patrol vessel, have since been placed under formal investigation for 'failure to assist a person in danger', in connection with the sinking. The Paris trial, expected to last for three weeks, continues.
