Relatives of Jasmeet Wadhwa, a British family member who died in the Channel in April, are pleading with French authorities to release his body, which officials have held for five months.
Wadhwa, 32, died on 1 April while attempting to reach the UK on a dinghy with his mother, Harbans Kaur Wadhwa, after they fled Taliban persecution in Afghanistan in January of this year. A second man, Nagmeldin Adam, 33, from Sudan, also died on the same boat. Eight others were rescued, including Harbans Kaur Wadhwa.
Journey and protest
The pair endured a difficult two-month journey under the control of people smugglers before reaching northern France in mid-March. Adam's journey from Sudan involved detention in Libya for an extended period and many attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, finally reaching France in December 2025.
Relatives of the two men held a demonstration on Monday outside the courthouse in Dunkirk, protesting against the French authorities' refusal to release the bodies. Wadhwa's relatives travelled from the UK to France to participate. Many who lose their lives trying to cross the Channel are never publicly identified, making this protest rare.
Family's appeal
Ivnit Singh Wadwa, Wadhwa's cousin, travelled from his home in west London for the protest. "We shouldn't have to fight to say goodbye," said Wadwa. "We are very upset with the French judicial system. Our family is waiting for Jasmeet's body so we can lay him to rest."
Neither the French interior ministry nor the part of the French police in charge of the bodies responded to questions from the Guardian about the delay.
Home Office rejection
After witnessing her son's death, Harbans Kaur Wadhwa applied to the Home Office to come to the UK legally under the "one in, one out" scheme, which forcibly returns one person to France who has arrived in the UK on a small boat in exchange for accepting another who has applied legally from northern France. The Home Office rejected the application, saying the identity document submitted was not satisfactory. Afghans generally have an identity document known as a Tazkira.
In an appeal on social media, the family wrote: "A son. A brother. A life not forgotten. Help us bring Jasmeet back to his family. This is not about politics. It's about a grieving mother being able to see her son one final time, it's about a family being able to mourn."
