France charges four over migrant boat tragedy in English Channel

French prosecutors have charged four suspects, two Iraqis and two Sudanese, with involuntary manslaughter over the deaths of at least six migrants whose boat sank in the English Channel last weekend.

Migrants that disembark from a lifeboat on the southeast coast of England after being picked up while crossing the English Channel from France, on 16 August 2023. AFP - HENRY NICHOLLS

The suspects were detained shortly after the vessel carrying around 65 people capsized early Saturday, leaving six Afghans dead.

They face charges of criminal conspiracy for illegal immigration, with the Iraqis suspected of belonging to a human trafficking network.

Most of those on board the vessel were Afghans along with some Sudanese and "a few minors", French authorities said.

The British and French coast guards rescued 59 people, while the death toll remains provisional.

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The Paris prosecutor's office said investigators had concluded that an engine breakdown led to the vessel's capsizing in the choppy waters of the busy shipping lane, adding that most of the passengers had no life jackets.

A commercial vessel discovered the shipwreck and alerted authorities, with the French coast guard rescuing 38 people and the British rescuing 23, prosecutors said.

The death toll in the latest tragedy is the highest since November 2021, when 27 migrants lost their lives in the channel.

An interforce officer helps a woman on the beach at Dungeness on the southeast coast of England, on 16 August 2023, after being picked up at sea with other migrants while attempting to cross the English Channel from France. AFP - HENRY NICHOLLS

A thorn between France and the UK

The situation has caused tension between Britain and France over who needs to do more to prevent such disasters.

French authorities have stepped up patrols and other deterrent measures after London agreed in March to send Paris hundreds of millions of euros annually towards the effort.

In an interview with RFI on Thursday, Yann Manzi, co-founder of the charity Utopia 56, which helps migrants near the points of crossing, said: "We must fight against smuggling networks and make roads safe." 

More than 100,000 migrants have crossed the channel on small boats from France to southeast England since Britain began publicly recording the arrivals in 2018.

(with AFP)