They denounce “manslaughter” and an “omission to provide assistance against the French and British authorities”.
The migrant aid association Utopia 56 filed a complaint against several representatives of the French and British authorities after the sinking of an illegal boat which left four people dead at the end of 2022. The complaint, filed with the Boulogne-sur-Mer public prosecutor's office, aims notably the maritime prefect of La Manche, the director of the Regional Operational Surveillance and Rescue Center Gris Nez (Cross), the director of the British Coast Guard, for intentional homicide and failure to render aid.
This morning, we are filing a new complaint for manslaughter and failure to render aid against the French and British authorities.
That night, at least four people died in the Channel and five others are believed to have disappeared.
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— Utopia 56 (@Utopia_56) February 6, 2024
Four migrants, including a teenager, died on the night of December 13 to 14, 2022, when their boat capsized in freezing water while they were trying to reach England.
About forty others had been saved.
The rescue operation was launched at 4:21 a.m. (Paris time) according to the maritime prefecture, after a message from the British rescue center in Dover confirming a boat sinking with shipwrecked people at sea.
“Please help us”
But the French migrant aid association Utopia 56 said it alerted the French authorities at 2:59 a.m. (Paris time) about a boat in distress, after being warned by a voice message with a location in French waters. .
“Please help us.
Um, we have kids and family in a boat.
(…) We have nothing for rescue for… safety,” says a person in this message attached to the complaint.
Also read: Channel: death of five migrants during an attempted crossing
Utopia criticizes the French and British rescue services for not having “intervened without delay”, even though the survival time in winter water does not exceed two hours.
“The transfer of responsibility between the services inevitably delayed the start of the search operation,” estimates the association, according to which the first British rescue boat left the coast at 2:40 a.m. (Paris time), “i.e. more than 40 minutes after the association's call.
A 19-year-old man, Ibrahima Bah, was charged in April 2023 in the United Kingdom with manslaughter following this sinking.
In 2022, a record year, 52,000 people attempted to cross the Channel illegally, despite the dangers involved.
The number of crossing attempts fell by 30% in 2023, reaching 36,000, but twelve candidates for exile perished.
In mid-2023, five soldiers working in a sea rescue center were indicted for failure to assist a person in danger in the investigation into the deadliest shipwreck in the Channel, which cost the lives of 27 migrants at the end of 2021 .