The investigation into the sinking of migrants in the Channel which left 27 dead on the night of November 24 was entrusted to Parisian examining magistrates on Friday, December 17, AFP learned from the Paris prosecutor's office.
Read alsoCalais in the migrant trap
In detail, this judicial information was opened for "
involuntary homicides, unintentional injuries, endangering others, assistance with the entry and stay of a foreigner in France in an organized group, assistance with entry or stay in a State party to the protocol against the smuggling of migrants in an organized gang and criminal association
”, according to the prosecution.
The 27 victims of this shipwreck which caused a stir in Europe and revived tensions between France and the United Kingdom were gradually identified by investigators, the last Thursday. They are sixteen Kurds from Iraq, one Kurd from Iran, four Afghans, three Ethiopians, one Somali, one Egyptian and one Vietnamese. Seven women, a 16-year-old teenager and a 7-year-old child are among the 27 victims.
According to the investigation, the migrants would have left aboard an inflatable boat "
at the end of the night
" from Loon-Plage, near Grande-Synthe (North), where many exiles are camping on the coast.
Only two men, an Iraqi Kurd and a Sudanese according to the Interior Ministry, were able to be rescued.
According to the Iraqi Kurd, 33 people were on board when the smugglers counted them.
The conditions of the sinking still unclear
The investigation, entrusted to judges of the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco), based in Paris, must in particular determine the conditions of this sinking, still unclear.
Questions arise about the appeals that the migrants would have made to the French and English authorities, when their makeshift boat began to sink.
In an interview with the Iraqi Kurdish channel Rudaw, the Iraqi Kurdish survivor said that as the boat began to deflate, passengers had unsuccessfully called the British and French authorities for help.
The Manche maritime prefecture had ruled out that the appeal of migrants in difficulty was not dealt with.
To read also Shipwreck of migrants: "The triple betrayal"
Five people suspected of being smugglers were arrested, according to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, but unrelated to this shipwreck, the deadliest since the migrants tried to cross the Channel.
The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday called France and the United Kingdom to order after the shipwreck, calling for the development of safe and legal access routes as part of the cooperation between the two countries.
