A Paris court in France sentenced 13 men to prison terms of up to 10 years in a case concerning the deaths of 31 migrants who were attempting to cross the English Channel and reach the United Kingdom in November 2021. As Al Jazeera English reports, it was the deadliest small-boat crossing on the route from France to the United Kingdom.
Six defendants were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to between six and 10 years in prison. According to prosecutors, they organized the crossing in a boat unfit for navigating the open sea, which was overloaded and lacked adequate life jackets.
Another seven men received sentences on less serious criminal charges and were sentenced to up to four years in prison. A total of 14 people stood trial in the case, and one of them was acquitted. The court noted that those convicted acted out of financial motives and profited from the vulnerability of migrants.
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The boat carrying migrants, most of whom were Iraqi Kurds, set off from northern France for the United Kingdom and capsized in the English Channel. The bodies of four of the dead were never found, while two men survived.
Separately, an investigation is ongoing into seven military personnel suspected of failing to assist the survivors. They deny any wrongdoing.
The sentences were handed down amid the end of a pilot French-British scheme under which the United Kingdom could return to France migrants who had no legal grounds to remain in the country. In return, Britain accepted an equivalent number of people whose asylum claims were likely to be approved. The UK Home Office confirmed that it is no longer accepting new applications under the programme.
Source: UA
