The investigation into the sinking of a boat, which led to the death of 27 migrants in the Channel in November 2021, is accelerating with the indictment this Thursday, May 25 of five soldiers, suspected of having failed in their mission. relief that night.
Nine people, including at least five soldiers from the Regional Operational Center for Surveillance and Rescue Gris-Nez (Cross, Pas-de-Calais), had been taken into custody in recent days and questioned by the Gendarmerie Research Section maritime de Cherbourg, according to a judicial source and a source familiar with the matter.
These five soldiers, three women and two men, were presented Thursday, May 25 afternoon to the investigating magistrates of the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime (Junalco) of the Paris Court of Justice. According to a judicial source, they were indicted for failure to assist a person in danger and left free after their interrogation. The code of military justice strongly restricts the possibilities of placing soldiers under judicial supervision.
” All operators currently at Cross Gris-Nez or on board have the full confidence of the prefect to conduct rescue operations at sea “, reacted this Thursday the maritime prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea. ” The case is ongoing and the investigation is not our responsibility “, she added, refusing to comment further.
” Help please »
The French authorities are suspected of having been called for help fifteen times and of not having come to the aid of the migrants on the night of the sinking. The boat sank on November 24, 2021 in the morning, carrying 27 passengers, mostly Iraqi Kurds, aged 7 to 46. No one had come to their aid. Neither on the French side nor on the British side, each spending the night passing the buck, according to investigation documents consulted by AFP and revealed by The world in November.
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In a telephone conversation with the Cross, a migrant said: “ Help please I’m in the water “. ” Yes, but you are in English waters, sir “, replies his interlocutor. ” No, no, not English waters, French waters, please can you come quickly “, he begs again. ” Ah well, don’t you hear, you won’t be saved », continues the operator, « I didn’t ask you to leave “, she adds.
These elements, which agree with the statements of the two survivors, had shaken the Cross Gris-Nez when they were revealed, but also aroused the consternation of associations helping migrants. The transcripts of conversations, however, show that the Cross contacted the British Coast Guard on several occasions.
During previous hearings as witnesses in this investigation at the end of 2021, Cross agents had invoked the lack of means which forced “to prioritize” requests for aid. That evening, the Cross treated ” hundreds or even thousands of calls “, reported one of them. ” If at any time there has been a breach, an error, the sanctions will be taken “, had also assured in November the Secretary of State Hervé Berville, recognizing a” dread when reading press information.
Ten alleged smugglers, mostly Afghans, have already been indicted in the judicial investigation. An investigation is also underway across the Channel. The British authorities announced at the end of November that they had arrested a man, suspected of being a member of the organized crime group that conspired to transport the migrants to the UK on a small boat “.
The investigation is progressing, but not enough for Charlotte Kwantes, national coordinator of Utopia 56. We seek to shed light on the responsibility of the French and British State in this drama “, she explains. ” Beyond the individual responsibility of the agents who respond to commands, we will continue to look for the responsibility of the State in this drama and in the condition of taking charge of the people who attempt to cross the Channel. »
This tragedy had raised the tension between Paris and London. But without discouraging applicants to England. Some 46,000 asylum seekers crossed the Channel in 2022, mostly Afghans, Iranians and Albanians. Around 8,000 of them were rescued in French waters.
Charlotte Kwantes also recalls, there was a second drama last December : 4 people had lost their lives trying to reach the United Kingdom.
>> To listen also: Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean: migrants facing a fortress Europe
(With AFP)