A plane has been grounded since Thursday, December 21 at Paris-Vatry airport (Marne), 150 km from the capital, due to an anonymous report indicating a possible “human trafficking”, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. The aircraft, which was only making a simple technical stopover between Dubai and Managua, was held on the tarmac at the request of the authorities.
On board were 303 passengers of Indian nationality, including unaccompanied minors. Two people were taken into custody, and an investigation was opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about the affair.
Suspicions of “human trafficking”
The Airbus A340 of the Romanian company Legend Airlines was to make a journey between Fujairah near Dubai (United Arab Emirates), and to destination “maybe intermediate” of Nicaragua, relayed the prosecution. On board, 303 passengers of Indian nationality, and a Romanian crew. The aircraft landed on Thursday around 3 p.m. at Paris-Vatry airport for a refueling stop.
That’s when he was detained, after authorities received a “anonymous information” which may come from an NGO. “Identity checks were carried out on the 303 passengers and the flight crew”against a backdrop of suspicions of “human trafficking”declared the Paris prosecutor’s office to France Télévisions.
“Given the number of people concerned and the international nature of the potential investigations to be carried out, it was Junalco (National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime) which took over the investigation to check whether any elements would corroborate the suspicion of trafficking human beings in an organized gang”, said the prosecution on Saturday evening.
Unaccompanied minors among passengers
Initially, the passengers remained on the plane, where they were able to eat, according to the Marne prefecture. They were then taken to the airport reception hall, transformed into a waiting area for foreigners by prefectural decree. They were taken care of by around thirty civil protection volunteers. “We brought meal trays, enough to withstand the wait, water, coffee, tea. There are a lot of vegetarians. There are also many children, we had to bring diapers, milk”, detailed Patrick Jaloux, president of civil protection of Marne, to France 3 Grand Est. Beds have also been installed on site, and tarpaulins erected in front of the bay windows of the reception hall.
Eleven unaccompanied minors are among the 303 Indian passengers on the grounded flight, the prosecution said, adding that they have been designated administrators “ad hoc”. Civil protection specifies that the age of these minors goes “from a 21 month old baby to a 17 year old teenager”.
Several authorities were contacted to interview and verify the conditions and objectives of passenger transport, the prosecution explained to AFP. These are the national border police directorate, including the OLTIM (Office for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Migrants), the Air Transport Gendarmerie Brigade (BGTA), as well as the Vitry-Search Brigade. le-François (Marne).
The airline denies any responsibility
The Romanian company Legend Airlines, owner of the plane, denies any responsibility. “The company believes that it has nothing to reproach itself for, has not committed any offense and remains at the disposal of the French authorities”, assured Liliana Bakayoko, lawyer for the company, to AFP. The company counts “become a civil party if proceedings are initiated by the public prosecutor, or file a complaint” otherwise, she added.
“All members of the crew were interviewed and authorized to leave freely, and to return home if they wish”she told AFP on Saturday morning. “The company is cooperating with the French authorities to the fullest extent possible”she told France Télévisions.
According to the Flight Radar platform, which records air traffic, the grounded plane regularly makes trips between the United Arab Emirates and Central America. Since the end of June, it has operated five connections between Fujairah and Managua, and two between Fujairah and San Salvador (El Salvador), with a stopover at Paris-Vatry airport. According to AFP, the plane is completely white, without the name of any company.
An open investigation
Indian passengers are likely to be victims of “organized gang trafficking in human beings”, a crime punishable by 20 years of criminal imprisonment and a fine of 3 million euros, recalls the Paris prosecutor’s office. According to a source close to the matter interviewed by France Télévisions, two passengers with numerous passports and cash were placed in police custody. The goal : “check if their role could have been different from that of the others in this transport”explained the prosecution on Saturday evening.
The judicial investigation into the conditions and objectives of passenger transport was entrusted to the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime, “in view of the number of people concerned and the international nature of the potential investigations to be carried out”, specified the Paris prosecutor’s office, to which the entity is attached. It aims to “check if there is any corroborating evidence” suspicions of human trafficking.
The hypothesis of a migratory route to the United States
“This is the first time, to my knowledge, that an entire plane with all these passengers has been grounded for obvious suspicion of human beings”notes Emmanuel Daoud, criminal lawyer specializing in international law, to France 2. The hypothesis of a new migratory route, set up by mafia networks, could explain the immobilization of this plane in Vatry.
This migratory phenomenon has a name: “donkeying”. “More and more Indians are joining the United States illegally through South America. It is even the 4th contingent of illegal migrants to the United States, through Central America precisely”explains Angélique Forget, France Télévisions correspondent in India. Donkeying is “because they are mules [“donkey”, en anglais]. They’re moving slowly, but they’re going to the end.”she specifies.