Six traffickers jailed over deaths in Channel boat disaster
Six men convicted in Paris of manslaughter after 31 migrants died on a small boat crossing the English Channel on 24 November 2021.
After a four‑week trial, the six received sentences from six to ten years; seven others received up to four years, and one defendant was acquitted.
The boat, described as “uncertified, overloaded and lacking life‑jackets,” was set out from the French coast and sank early the following morning. Victims were mainly Iraqi Kurds, with some Afghans, Egyptians and Iranian Kurds; only two men survived.
Judges said the defendants operated two smuggling networks—one Kurdish, one Afghan—which coordinated routes to the “jungle” camp near Calais.
Families of victims, many from Iraqi Kurdistan, testified in court, describing how they watched their loved ones embark on the doomed trip.
Lawyer Matthieu Chirez said the verdict released the civil plaintiffs, confirming the traffickers’ penal responsibility and humanising the families.
Phone tracking linked the defendants to the networks; the former leader of the Iraqi network, Bashdar, is now in Iraqi custody, while the Afghan network’s chief, Obaidullah Maroofkhel, received the longest sentence of ten years.
Police are also investigating seven French navy personnel alleged to have ignored distress calls that evening.
The tragedy led Britain and France to scrap their “one‑in, one‑out” scheme for irregular cross‑Channel migrants earlier this year.
