Iraqi and Afghan migrant smugglers jailed over deadly small boat crossing

Nine sentenced over sinking in English Channel in which eight people died

Rescuers carry a body on to the shore at Dover, England, after a boat carrying migrants sank in the Channel in 2022. Reuters

Seven Afghans and two Iraqi Kurds have each been sentenced to seven or eight years in jail over the deadly capsizing of a boat carrying migrants from France to England in 2022.

A French court heard the small, inflatable boat left France in freezing conditions early on December 14 of that year, carrying people from Afghanistan, Albania, India and Senegal.

Four died and another four were reported missing at the time after the vessel capsized a few kilometres from the English coast with only one of the bodies identified – an Afghan man. Rescuers saved 39 people, while those missing were presumed dead.

An investigation by the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch found the boat was “wholly unsuitable and ill-equipped” for the hazardous journey. The water temperature was 11°C and the air temperature minus 4°C, too cold for a surveillance aircraft that would usually patrol the channel to fly. Cold-water shock can occur in anything below 15°C and can lead to swift loss of life.

The UK government has vowed to crack down on people smuggling gangs operating in the Channel, with crossings at a record high for this point in the year, totalling 18,518.

A court in the French city of Lille sentenced three men to eight years in jail on Monday. They included an Afghan being tried in absentia and thought to be the mastermind of the trafficking operation.

It handed the rest seven-year sentences, including two Afghan brothers accused of financing the scheme.

A 10th man who is being held in Belgium will face trial at a later date.

A British court had already sentenced a Senegalese minor who drove the boat to nine years in jail, French prosecutors said.

The investigation found several people had heard a loud bang that sounded like the boat had been punctured shortly before departure.

The smugglers told the passengers not to worry and that the boat was the only one available for the crossing.

But the sea was rough and there were not enough life jackets – all those who died were not wearing one, survivors said.

After about an hour the boat was filling up with water and when panicking passengers stood up to get the attention of a passing ship, the hull of the capsizing boat burst under the weight of the water. All the passengers fell into the cold sea.

The accident was one of the deadliest in the Channel in recent years. In November 2021 in another deadly incident, 27 people were killed off the French coast in a case that has yet to reach court.

At least 17 people have died attempting the perilous Channel crossing from France to Britain this year, after a record 78 last year.

The French and British governments have been holding talks over how to tackle the small boats crisis but have yet to reach a solution. France is due to start intercepting boats up to 300 metres from the coast and the two countries are said to be nearing agreement on sending asylum seekers back to France under certain conditions.