French court sentences Afghans for migrant-smuggling operation in English Channel

Group found guilty of trafficking 53 mainly Vietnamese and Afghan migrants to the UK on dinghies in 2021

Last year alone, more than 45,000 migrants arrived on the shores of south-east England on small boats. AFP

In a crackdown against the smuggling of migrants across the English Channel, a French court has sentenced four Afghans to prison and issued lighter sentences to five others.

The group was found guilty of trafficking 53 mainly Vietnamese and Afghan migrants to the UK on dinghies in 2021.

As the number of illicit boat crossings into Britain continues to rise, London and Paris have been working together to address the issue.

Last year alone, more than 45,000 migrants arrived on the shores of south-east England on small boats, a significant increase from the 28,000 detected the previous year.

The nine defendants, aged 21 to 39, were involved in four smuggling operations that took place between January and March 2021. The passengers were picked up in either British or French waters during these attempts.

The court handed down a six-year prison sentence and €30,000 fine to a 30-year-old Afghan man for orchestrating the crossings, a charge he denied throughout the trial. After serving his sentence, he will be deported from France.

Three other defendants were sentenced to five years in prison and a €25,000 fine each, followed by deportation.

One of these defendants had six months of his sentence suspended. The remaining five Afghans received lesser sentences and will not serve time in prison.

Prosecutors had sought harsher sentences, arguing that the defendants “knowingly endangered the lives of others.”

The defence, however, emphasised the defendants' own hardships, noting that they had fled war-torn Afghanistan, a country ruled by the extremist Taliban, and were living in poverty.

Alexia Gavini, a defence lawyer, also argued that the UK had “considerably hardened its immigration policy, leading to an exponential rise in crossings”.

During the trial, a statement was read in which one accused revealed that a passenger designated as a boat's captain was allowed to travel for free, while another tasked with navigation paid half price.

The remaining passengers paid between €1,500 and €4,000 each.

In recent years, there have been multiple tragedies resulting from these dangerous crossings.

In November 2021, at least 27 people drowned , including a seven-year-old, when their dinghy deflated during the journey.

In December 2019, a French court jailed two smugglers — an Afghan and a Dutchman of Guinean origin — for six and three years, respectively, after a 31-year-old Iranian woman drowned during a crossing.