A suspect was indicted and nine are presented to investigating judges on Thursday, seven months after the death of 27 migrants during a Channel crossing on November 24, 2021, franceinfo learned Thursday June 30 from a judicial source. Five other people who had been taken into police custody were released without prosecution.
On November 24, 2021, 17 men, seven women, two teenagers and a 7-year-old child drowned after the sinking of the boat which was to take them from France to the United Kingdom. They were Kurds from Iraq and Iran, Ethiopians, Afghans, Somalis and Egyptians. Only two men could be rescued.
The next day, the specialized inter-regional jurisdiction (Jirs) of Lille had opened an investigation for “involuntary homicides”, “involuntary injuries”, “endangering the lives of others”, “help with entry, illegal movement or stay of a foreigner in France in an organized gang”, “trafficking in human beings in an organized gang” and “participation in a criminal association”. A judicial inquiry was opened in December.
It appears from the first elements of the investigation that the passengers of the boat had called the French and British authorities in vain. According to a survivor, the two sides of the Channel passed the responsibility, leaving the migrants to their fate.
The Radio France investigation unit was able to confirm that they had spoken on the telephone with the Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue (Cross). The investigations will have to establish why the emergency services did not intervene. The Utopia56 association for exiled aid filed a complaint against the French maritime prefect of the Channel, against a French relief official and against a British relief official.
This sinking was a shock wave in Europe, reigniting tensions between France and the United Kingdom around the issue of border management. The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights called them to order and called on them to provide safe and legal access routes to the United Kingdom.