Final defendants testify in Paris trial over deadliest migrant Channel crossing

Fourteen defendants are on trial in Paris over the November 2021 English Channel crossing that killed 31 people when an overloaded dinghy with a faulty motor capsized in rough, cold water. Only two survivors made it; they say repeated calls to French and U.K. authorities during the sinking went unanswered, and France is now investigating the military personnel on duty that night.

One defendant, arrested in Germany while trying to fly to Iraq, told the court through a translator that he understood the victims' families' pain because he lost relatives making a similar crossing in 2015. Between 2020 and 2025 the U.K. recorded almost 200,000 small-boat arrivals, and a 2025 “one in, one out” pilot has since sent about 1,400 people back to France while bringing roughly 1,000 into Britain the other way.

Analysts say the pilot has cut return processing time but suffers from a communication gap: migrants often learn about the return policy only after they're already being detained in the U.K. The scheme is set to expire October 1, with no clarity yet on what replaces it.

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