Paris court sentences 13 over fatal Channel crossing
Six men were jailed for involuntary homicide over the 2021 crossing that killed 31 migrants; one of 14 defendants was acquitted.
A Paris court has sentenced 13 men over a small-boat crossing from France to the UK that ended in the deaths of 31 migrants in November 2021. Six were convicted of involuntary homicide and jailed for six to 10 years.
Seven other defendants received sentences of up to four years for lesser criminal charges. One of the 14 defendants was acquitted.
Prosecutors said the men organised a crossing in a boat unfit for open water, overloaded with passengers and lacking appropriate life jackets. The court said the smugglers had profited from the vulnerability of people seeking exile.
Most of those who died were Iraqi Kurds. Four bodies were never found, and two men survived.
Seven military personnel remain under investigation over alleged failures to help survivors. They deny wrongdoing.
The verdicts come as a France-UK pilot returns scheme is due to expire on Thursday. The UK Interior Ministry said new applications were no longer being accepted. Under the scheme, the UK accepted an equivalent number of migrants whose asylum claims were likely to succeed in exchange for returns from France.
