Fourteen smuggler suspects tried in Paris over Channel disaster
Fourteen people, mostly Afghan nationals, have been put on trial in Paris after their boat sank in the English Channel in November 2021, killing at least 30 migrants. The accused are charged with manslaughter and aiding illegal migration.
The doomed voyage began off the French coast on 23 November 2021, when a motorised dinghy—described by investigators as poorly built, overloaded and lacking proper life‑jackets—failed and was forced to take on water.
When the boat was overwhelmed, passengers tried to reduce the load by jumping into the freezing water, but most succumbed to the cold. Only two men survived. In total, 27 bodies were recovered and four people remain missing.
Victims came from Iraq, Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Afghanistan; the youngest was seven years old. The trial is expected to last three weeks, with families of the deceased returning to Paris to witness it.
Alongside the criminal proceedings, French authorities are investigating seven military personnel for alleged failure to rescue the stranded boat, while a British inquiry highlighted limited coastguard capacity and a possible bias toward underestimating distress calls.
