Final defendants testify in Paris trial over deadliest migrant Channel crossing

Years after 31 died crossing the English Channel, France and the U.K. still can’t agree on a long-term plan to discourage people from making the same life-threatening journey.PARIS (CN) — Behind the glass of a sleek prisoner’s dock on Thursday, a defendant implicated in the deadliest migrant Channel crossing on record said he understands how the 31 victims’ family members feel. He shifted his weight from side to side as he addressed the Paris Criminal Court.“I would like to present my condolences to the families of the victims,” he said in a soft voice, speaking Kurdish to a translator stationed at the dock. “I had victims from my own family in 2015 … we never found them, and that’s how I know their pain.”Fourteen defendants are on trial for the deadliest English Channel crossing on record in November 2021. Migrants paid thousands of dollars for a spot on a roughly 20-by-7-foot dinghy with a faulty motor, and set off into a cold, rough sea at around 10 p.m.The following day, a fishing vessel spotted orange lifejackets carrying lifeless bodies through the water. There were only two survivors; they explained that when the boat began taking on water at roughly 2 a.m., passengers made multiple attempts to contact French and U.K. authorities for rescue to no avail. France is currently investigating the military personnel on duty that night for failing to help people in danger.On Nov. 30 of that year, the defendant was arrested in Germany; he had been trying to fly back to Iraq, and flights from there were cheaper than from France. He said he wanted to make the trip across the Channel himself— his father sent a smuggler roughly $1,700 for the journey — but when news of the accident spread through the Calais “Jungle,” he said that all of the “good” smugglers left.“Maybe there were two or three, but those who did good work didn’t stay,” he said.The judge was pretty confident that another defendant’s position in the network was to find housing for migrants while they waited to cross; during the hearing on Thursday, she had to backtrack after saying the court already understood his role.“I meant to say, the justice system will decide whether what you did is punishable by law,” she said.People wait inside the Paris courthouse, in Paris, France, Monday, April 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)The story behind this trial is part of a larger movement that has become a major political flashpoint between France and the U.K. Between 2020 and 2025, the U.K. Home Office recorded almost 200,000 arrivals from small-boat crossings; many are drawn there because of family ties or more familiarity with the language.In August 2025, the “one in, one out” pilot came into effect, allowing the U.K. to send people who arrive illegally on small boats back to France; in return, it could take someone from France who has gone through the legal process to gain residency.So far, about 1,400 people have been deported back to France under the scheme. At least 1,000 people have been brought into the U.K. in return.Meghan Benton, the director of the global program at Migration Policy International, said that roughly one year into the scheme, it has been a bit of a “mixed picture.” The pilot has been testing the operational challenges with returns, like legal issues and resistance from the French side. However, she said that they’ve gotten the time it takes to return people down; for a while, it was taking about 50 days.But one of the biggest problems has been a disconnect between political discourse and communication on the ground. French President Emmanuel Macron, former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and current Prime Minister Andy Burnham have stressed their commitment to the pilot and its potential to save lives. However, Benton explained one of the biggest challenges has been spreading the word to migrants themselves.“So in some cases, the first time that [migrants] hear about the fact that they might be returned to France is when they’re on the bus to detention [in the U.K.],” she said. “And I think that’s a real missed opportunity because what you really want is to be communicating to people on the ground that there is this safe pathway, but if you travel illegally by a small boat, you will be returned to France; the message didn’t really seep through down to communities.”The deal is set to expire on Oct. 1; it’s unclear what will happen after that date.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads