A complaint for manslaughter and failure to provide assistance was filed against the maritime prefect of the Channel and the French and English rescuers, after the deadly shipwreck - 27 deaths - which occurred on the night of November 23 to 24, 2021.
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The complaint was lodged by the Utopia 56 association, which says it supports "exiled people" in Calais and in various French cities (Lille, Rennes, Tours, Toulouse, Dijon ...). In this complaint, consulted by Francetvinfo, the association estimates that the 27 people, including a child and a teenager,
"who were trying to cross the Channel, were killed, despite calls to the English and French rescue services.
The association cites in particular the testimony of the two survivors of the shipwreck. The latter indeed declared to have called on several occasions for French and British help during the night, while their boat was sinking.
To support its accusations, Utopia 56 cites the example of another drama that occurred a few days earlier, on November 20, during which a volunteer from the association received a call from a person on board a boat in distress, explaining
"to have called several times, the French and British help"
and that these
"had returned the responsibility without intervening"
. During their marauding operations, the volunteers of Utopia 56 are in fact used to communicating, in Calais and Grande-Synthe (Nord), to migrants the institutional emergency telephone numbers, and an emergency telephone number. the association.
In voice messages consulted by Le Monde, the person on board the boat expresses great concern: “
When I call 999
[the number for sea emergencies, on the English side]
, they say to call the French, and the French say to call the United Kingdom.
Both are laughing at us.
"
The people in question are finally rescued by French media.
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On November 24, according to the maritime prefecture of La Manche, it was a French fishing vessel which sounded the alert around 14n, after having seen several castaways at sea, in French waters, but in the immediate vicinity of English waters.
“The castaways spent the night in the icy water of the English Channel, trying to hang on to the deflated boat
(…),
most of them died at dawn
,
”
denounces Utopia 56 in its complaint.
The agreements between France and the United Kingdom provide that the two countries are required to coordinate in this type of situation.
After the shipwreck, an investigation was opened for “
involuntary homicides, assistance with the entry, movement or illegal stay of a foreigner in France in an organized gang, trafficking in human beings in an organized gang and participation in an association of criminal
”.
The National Jurisdiction against Organized Crime (JUNALCO) in Paris then took up the investigation.
Utopia 56's complaint was therefore sent to the Paris Prosecutor.