Fourteen go on trial over deadliest Channel small boats disaster

What the report says

Fourteen suspected people smugglers have gone on trial in Paris over the deadliest small-boat tragedy in the English Channel, in which at least 30 men, women and children died after a dinghy set off from the French coast in November 2021 and then deflated and took on water midway across the Channel. BBC World News reports that the defendants, mostly Afghan nationals, face charges including manslaughter and helping illegal immigration as part of an organised criminal group.

According to the report, most of the accused deny wrongdoing. Two others, described as possible ringleaders, are not in custody and are being tried in absentia. Prosecutors say the group helped organise the journey by supplying the boat, moving migrants, arranging accommodation and transport, and handling payments. The boat was said to be overcrowded, poorly equipped and unfit for sea travel.

The disaster left only two survivors. Twenty-seven bodies were recovered and four people were still listed as missing. Many of the victims were Iraqi Kurds, while others came from Somalia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Afghanistan; the youngest named victim was seven years old.

The case has drawn wider scrutiny of rescue efforts and migration management on both sides of the Channel. BBC World News notes that separate investigations have been opened in France and the UK into possible failings by rescue services and coastguard authorities, following earlier concerns about staffing, weather constraints and how distress calls from small boats were assessed.