France: Nine Afghans jailed and fined for migrant smuggling
A French court has sentenced four Afghans to prison and given lesser penalties to five others for smuggling migrants across the Channel to Britain on dinghies in 2021. A Paris court on Wednesday (April 19) sentenced nine Afghans in connection with the smuggling of 53 mainly Vietnamese and Afghan migrants across the English Channel in 2021. The penalties ranged from suspended sentences of eight months to six years in prison and fines of between EUR1,000 and EUR30,000.
The harshest sentence was handed down to a 30-year-old who had been convicted of having orchestrated the crossings, charges he denied throughout the trial. The court ordered that he should be expelled from France once he has served his six-year term. Three other defendants were sentenced to five years and fined EUR25,000 each.
The court also ordered that they should be deported afterwards. Another five men were handed lesser penalties and will not go to prison. The defendants are aged between 21 and 39.
The prosecutor had requested harsher sentences, alleging that the defendants had "knowingly endangered the lives of others." But the Afghan men's defense team stressed that they had been forced to flee a war-torn country ruled by the extremist Taliban and were living in poverty. Their lawyer, Alexia Gavini, argued that Britain had "considerably hardened its immigration policy, leading to an exponential rise in crossings."
Up to EUR4,000 to cross the Channel
Over four nights in January, February and March 2021, the migrants had set out in inflatable boats from the Slack Dunes in Wimereux and Ambleteuse in Pas-de-Calais, northern France. All were subsequently picked up by authorities in French or English waters.
According to a statement read out during the trial, one of the defendants told investigators that, at one dinghy launch, a passenger designated as the boat's captain was allowed to travel for free, while a second given the job of navigating paid half price. All the other migrants paid between EUR1,500 and EUR4,000 for the journey. Also read: British police charge man after migrant deaths in Channel[1]
Dawn light at Leffrinckoucke, east of Dunkirk, February 11, 2022. Many migrant boats depart from northern French beaches early in the morning or late at night. | Photo: Mehdi Chebil
In spite of increased patrols and surveillance of the French coasts - mainly financed by the UK - migrant boats continue to depart in large numbers. According to the British government, more than 45,000 migrants arrived on the shores of southeast England on small boats in 2022.
Since January, there have been around 5,000 arrivals. The UK government this week predicted that as many as 56,000 people[2] could cross the Channel by the end of the year. Small, inflatable boats often get into trouble while crossing the Channel, a busy shipping lane which is prone to bad weather.
In December, four people -- including a teenager -- died when a migrant boat capsized[3].
39 people were rescued. In November 2021, at least 27 people, including a seven-year-old, drowned[4] when their dinghy deflated during the journey. In December 2019, after a 31-year-old Iranian woman drowned during a crossing, a French court jailed two smugglers -- an Afghan and a Dutch citizen of Guinean origin -- for six and three years respectively.
With AFP
References
- ^ British police charge man after migrant deaths in Channel (www.infomigrants.net)
- ^ as many as 56,000 people (www.infomigrants.net)
- ^ four people -- including a teenager -- died when a migrant boat capsized (www.infomigrants.net)
- ^ 27 people, including a seven-year-old, drowned (www.infomigrants.net)