French judges step up investigation into migrant deaths in the Channel in 2021

Featured Sponsor

Store	Link	Sample Product
UK Artful Impressions	Premiere Etsy Store

French prosecutors have filed preliminary charges against five emergency services officials for allegedly failing to assist people in distress following the deaths of 27 migrants in the English Channel when their boat sank in 2021.

The Paris judges investigated whether the distress calls were mishandled by the rescuers on duty on the French coast and by the authorities in charge of the rescue missions. The November 2021 crash was the deadliest since the spate of clandestine small boat crossings in recent years by people trying to reach the UK coast from France.

Late last year, President Emmanuel Macron’s government launched its own internal investigation to try to determine whether pleas for help had been ignored, after Le Monde newspaper released revealing leaked recordings that the French services have not sent aid to the migrants despite numerous requests for help.

The five people now charged are military and part of Cross, a coastal emergency services unit overseen by the prime minister’s office, a court official said, confirming a report by AFP news agency.

Ten other people, civilians, are also already facing preliminary charges as part of the investigation, but on various other counts, including involuntary manslaughter and aiding people staying illegally in France, the court official added.

The investigation, carried out by a special unit for organized crime, still has a long way to go before magistrates and prosecutors decide whether to proceed with a trial. In the French system, after someone is mis en examenthe investigating judge will further investigate the charges against the person as a first step, and the charges can still be dropped or the person can be sentenced to stand trial.

The prime minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

The 2021 incident, which caused an uproar in France and Britain, has since been followed by several new pacts and pledges by both governments to try and stem the flow of small boats attempting the perilous crossing.

This includes intensified patrols by French police, under a revised immigration deal with Britain from November 2022 which also comes with an increased budget. Britain, meanwhile, it is attempting to tighten further its rules on asylum applications act as a deterrent.

Aid groups said this did little to stop the crossings, which moved to different parts of the French coast or Belgium.

The number of people crossing the English Channel reached 46,000 in 2022, a 60% increase on the previous year, according to official UK figures.

In leaked 2021 emergency recordings obtained by Le Monde, which the Financial Times could not independently verify, French authorities told the migrants they should contact UK emergency services as they were in British waters.

Officials could also be heard making insensitive comments about migrants, fueling further criticism and shock at how emergency calls were handled.