00:01Fourteen defendants go on trial in France on Tuesday over a 2021 channel crossing that killed 31 people, including a
00:09seven-year-old, in the worst small boat disaster involving migrants in those waters.
00:15Most of the 14 defendants, the majority Afghan nationals, face charges of manslaughter and organized facilitation of illegal immigration. Two,
00:27including one Afghan national, will be tried in absentia under active arrest warrants.
00:33Prosecutors allege the accused said to have ties with smuggling operations be a responsibility for the sinking that claimed 27
00:41lives when an overloaded dinghy went down in the early hours of 24 November 2021.
00:48Four victims have never been found and just two men made it out alive.
00:54Investigators argue that responsibility also falls on those who transported, sheltered or escorted the victims beforehand.
01:02Framing these actions as links in a, quote, chain of successive events culminating in a disaster.
01:09The defendants have pushed back, denying involvement in smuggling.
01:13Some claim they themselves were simply migrants attempting the crossing.
01:18A UK government inquiry published in February concluded that faster action by French and British authorities could have prevented some
01:26of the deaths.
