PARIS – The Paris prosecutor says 26 migrants have been officially identified, including seven women, a teenager and a 7-year-old girl, in last month’s tragic boat capsized in the English Channel. killing at least 27 people. who are trying to get to England.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement on Tuesday that a migrant had not yet been identified.
Investigators were able to confirm the identities of 16 Iraqi Kurds, including four women, a 16-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. Among the victims were an Iranian Kurd, three Ethiopians including two women, a Somali woman, four Afghan men and an Egyptian man, the statement said. The adults ranged in age from 19 to 46.
Their boat capsized on November 24 off France’s northern coast, in what the country’s interior minister called the biggest migrant tragedy on the dangerous sea crossing to Britain to date.
An increasing number of people fleeing conflicts or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Eritrea or elsewhere are venturing the perilous journey from France, hoping to seek asylum or find opportunity. better than in the UK.
The number of crossovers has tripled this year compared to 2020.
The tragedy has led to a new political crisis between Britain and France, who have accused each other of not doing enough to prevent people from crossing the English Channel. European migration officials agreed to send an aircraft to monitor the English Channel to look for migrant activity. They also pledged to work more closely to combat migrant smuggling networks.
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