In France, the authorities are trying to determine whether the 300 Indians who have been stuck at a French airport for several days are victims of human trafficking. A decision is expected on Sunday.
More than 300 Indian nationals have since Thursday been stuck at the small Vatry airport east of Paris after French police stopped their plane from continuing. The charter plane, belonging to the Romanian low-cost company Legend Airlines, stopped in France to refuel on its way from the United Arab Emirates to Nicuragua.
It was an anonymous tip that led the police on the trail and according to the French prosecutor, it is about suspected trafficking, human smuggling. During Sunday, prosecutors will conduct interviews with all passengers to determine whether they should be detained or released.
– I don’t know if something like this has happened before in France. The situation is urgent because we cannot detain foreigners in a waiting area for more than 96 hours, said lawyer François Procureur to the French television channel BFMTV.
Children among the passengers
According to the Procureur, a judge can decide to detain the passengers for eight days, and then another eight days in exceptional circumstances. A group of several judges, legal assistants and lawyers are now working urgently on the case.
Among the passengers are families and children, the youngest of whom is 21 months old. Among the children, there are also several without a guardian.
Two of the passengers have been arrested as part of a special investigation into suspected organized human trafficking, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The prosecutor’s office did not want to comment on the type of human trafficking involved or whether the final destination is the United States.
The 15 crew members on Legend Airlines have been questioned and released, according to the airline’s lawyer.
Denies involvement
According to local authorities in the Marne department, the passengers initially remained on the plane but were later taken to the airport’s arrival hall to sleep.
Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko told the AP that the airline is cooperating with French authorities and has denied any involvement in human trafficking.
According to Bakayoko, it was a “partner company” that had chartered the plane and they were responsible for checking the identity documents of the passengers.
The customer has chartered several flights with Legend Airlines from Dubai to Nicaragua, and other flights had already made the trip without incident, according to Bakayoko. She did not want to name the client, saying only that it is not a European company.
The US government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries that are not considered to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking.