A 32-year old man, identified as Harem AA, was extradited from Britain on Friday (July 7) and has been charged in France on July 10 where he is due to face trial. Ten other suspects, mainly Afghans, have also been charged with similar offenses, confirmed a French judicial source to the French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP).

The suspect is accused of being involved in smuggling migrants as part of a gang and being responsible for the deaths of at least 27 people who died in the Channel in November 2021 after their boat sank off the coast of France. Two people were rescued from the wreck and four people remain missing. Harem AA has now been placed in pre-trial detention in France.

According to Britain’s National Crime Agency NCA, Harem AA was arrested in November 2022 at a hotel housing asylum seekers in southwestern England, a year after the migrant boat incident occurred. Harem AA is accused of being a "significant member of the organized crime group who conspired to transport the migrants to the UK in a small boat," stated an NCA press release.

Also read: Channel shipwreck, France launches an appeal to identify victims

'Right hand man' of smuggling gang

At a hearing after his arrest, Harem AA was described as the "right-hand man" of the smuggling gang, accused of facilitating the crossing, as well as allegedly offering families of the victims money to stay silent, reported the British newspaper the Independent.

Harem AA’s phone, according to the Independent, was allegedly detected at the site from where the boat set off on November 23, 2021, and the man is accused of being the person responsible for loading the people on to the boat. Three days after the disaster, his phone was reportedly tracked in Germany.

The NCA has been working with units in France to investigate the circumstances which led to the deaths of the migrants on board the boat. On June 28, Harem AA consented to be extradited to France where he will now face the charges of "manslaughter, human trafficking, and organized crime charges before the French courts," according to the NCA.

Emergency services also questioned during investigation

The shipwreck was the worst accident in the Channel and resulted in the deaths of 16 Iraqi Kurds, four Afghans, three Ethiopians, one Somali, one Egyptian and one Vietnamese migrant.

In France, the Paris-based National Unit against Organized Crime is conducting investigations into the shipwreck. Seven members of the French rescue teams have also been questioned by investigators. Both British and French authorities have been accused of passing responsibilitiy to each other prior to the shipwreck, each claiming the boat was in the other's waters and not going to help those on the boat quickly enough.

Also read: 'Overwhelmed' UK coast guard in Channel calls under investigation

An article published in the French newspaper Le Monde in mid-May this year published a transcript detailing one of the alleged calls made by migrants on the boat to emergency operators. In the transcript, reports AFP, a migrant on board calls for help, saying people are already in the water. The operator is accused of replying that "you are not in French waters Monsieur, you are in British waters." The migrant allegedly contradicts this, insisting they are still in French waters. Then the operator is supposed to have replied: "You say you have your feet in water, well I didn't tell you to leave!"

The telephone operator denies any responsibility in the deaths of these people. According to AFP, when questioned, the woman said that she was just following orders. Le Monde suggested that the strategy of the French emergency services may have been to play for time, hoping that the boat would be in British waters and that the British would have to mobilize their rescue operation to save the people.

'Tackling people smuggling remains a priority for us'

More than 1,000 migrants crossed the Channel from France to Britain over the weekend, and more than 12,500 have crossed since the beginning of the year, according to UK government figures.

NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner said in a statement, "the NCA are working closely with our French partners to investigate this Channel dinghy tragedy. We remain determined to get justice for the families of those whose lives were lost."

Turner added that "tackling people smuggling remains a priortiy for us, and we continue to disrupt and dismantle the cruel organized criminal networks involved."

With AFP

Also read: Over 600 migrants cross Channel in single day