In brief
A French court convicted six men of involuntary homicide after a small‑boat crossing from the French coast to England sank on 24 November 2021, killing 31 migrants. The boat, described as poorly constructed, overloaded and lacking life‑jackets, carried Iraqi Kurds, Afghans, Egyptians and Iranian Kurds. Sentences ranged from six to ten years, with seven other defendants receiving up to four years and one acquitted. Families testified the victims had been promised a better life in the UK, leading to a harrowing human‑rights debate. Parallel investigations target French naval personnel who allegedly ignored distress calls before the wreck.
Six people traffickers have been found guilty in France of causing the deaths of 31 migrants in the worst ever small‑boat accident in the Channel. At the end of a four‑week trial in Paris, the six were convicted of "involuntary homicide" and given prison terms of between six and ten years.
Seven others received lesser sentences of up to four years and one person was found not guilty.
The boat sank early in the morning on 24 November 2021 after sending distress calls to French and British coastguards. The dead, including a seven‑year‑old child, were mainly Iraqi Kurds but also included Afghans, Egyptians and Iranian Kurds. Only two men survived.
The charge sheet blamed the defendants for putting the migrants at sea in a boat that was of poor quality, uncertified, unsuitable for navigation at sea, overloaded and without correct life jackets.
The trial established that the guilty men were members of two separate networks – one of which was Iraqi Kurdish, the other Afghan – that cooperated to organise the cross‑channel journey and bring migrants to the meeting point.
Family members, many from Iraqi Kurdistan, testified about how the victims had been promised a better future in the UK, which tragically turned into a fatal gamble.
Lawyer Matthieu Chirez said the verdict brought relief to civil plaintiffs, confirming the traffickers’ penal responsibility and humanising the families of the victims. One survivor, Issa Omar, described clinging to floating bodies and a life‑jacket as he fought to stay awake in the water.
Police investigations traced phone calls to the two smuggling networks and identified supporters who sheltered migrants or transported them across France to the so‑called "jungle" camp outside Calais. An alleged leader, Bashdar, remains in Iraq; his aide Harem Ahmed Abawaker received an eight‑year sentence. The Afghan network leader, Obaidullah Maroofkhel, was condemned to ten years in absentia.
A separate inquiry is looking into seven French armed‑force personnel who allegedly failed to respond to distress calls during the disaster. The outcome will be decided in the coming months.
The trial concluded as France and the UK announced the termination of the "one‑in‑one‑out" scheme, which had allowed irregular cross‑Channel migrants to be sent back and then accepted into the UK for asylum. The programme had not effectively disrupted traffickers’ operations.
