Fourteen men go on trial for Channel crossing that left 31 migrants dead

A Paris courtroom heard testimony this week in the trial of fourteen defendants, two tried in absentia, over the November 2021 sinking of an inflatable dinghy in the English Channel that killed 31 migrants attempting to reach the U.K. The defendants face charges including involuntary homicide and facilitating irregular migration; only two people survived the crossing, and one described the boat deflating and hearing women and children screaming in the water.

A father who lost his son, whose body was never recovered, asked the presiding judge whether the court could confirm his son's death; she said the evidence points to yes but she could not confirm it outright. One defendant, an Afghan refugee who fled Taliban threats and eventually settled in France, testified he drove supplies to smugglers for money without asking questions about why migrants were paying cash to the man he worked for.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.