The British Coastguard are facing criminal charges in France following the death of four migrants in the Channel. Refugee aid charity Utopia 56 has filed complaints for “involuntary manslaughter” and “failure to render aid”.
The charity is referring to an incident on December 14, 2022, when dozens of people on a small boat ended up in the sea.
Messages were received just before 3am from the boat with passengers saying: “Please help. We have children and family in the boat. We are in the water. Please.”
Utopia 56 emailed the Cross de Griz-Nez emergency centre and the British Coastguard saying: “Problem: water in the boat. There are families with children on board. They are urgently asking for help”.
Eleven people were pulled out of the water by rescuers but four drowned, including some getting trapped inside the sinking inflatable boat. It is believed the boat had 48 people aboard when it left France.
It is claimed that both the British and the French were too slow to respond, with the British not mobilising until 3.40am.
A legal source in Boulogne said: “The complaint was filed to the Prosecutor early this month, and it focuses on the way the British and French authorities dealt with Mayday calls for help. The complaint is currently being investigated.”
Those that could face prison sentences and fines are His Majesty’s Coastguard, the Maritime Prefect in France, and the director of the Cross de Gris-Nez emergency centre near Calais.
Another French criminal investigation has been opened into another collapsing boat disaster on November 24, 2021, when 27 people died.
Seven French military personnel who were manning phones at the Cross de Gris-Nez centre on the night face charges.
