12/23/2023 10:27
The 303 passengers of Indian nationality, including minors, on the plane traveling between the United Arab Emirates and Nicaragua, which has been blocked in France since Thursday on suspicion of human trafficking, spent the second night locked up at a small airport.
Among the passengers were “13 unaccompanied minors as well as accompanied minors,” the civil protection service of the Marne department, where Vatry airport is located, 150 km east of Paris, told AFP.
The age of the minors varies “from a 21monthold baby to a 17yearold teenager,” said the civil protection agency.
The Romanian airline Legend Airlines plane was en route from Dubai to Managua with a stopover in France. According to the Paris prosecutor's office, the Airbus A340 has been blocked since Thursday (21) on suspicion of human trafficking following an “anonymous complaint”.
The passengers on the flight remained at the airport on Saturday.
According to the deputy, two passengers were arrested on Friday and the investigation aims to “verify whether there is evidence to support the suspicion.”
Investigators were verifying the identities of the passengers and crew as well as the “transport conditions and destinations of the people,” the deputy added.
A source familiar with the investigation said the passengers, likely Indian workers in the Emirates, intended to travel to a Central American country and then continue north and enter the United States or Canada illegally.
Interrogations
The crew members, 15 for the DubaiVatry route and 14 or 15 for the VatryManagua route, “were interrogated and allowed to leave freely and return home if they wished,” reported Liliana Bakayoko, a lawyer for the airline.
Legend Airlines “has already operated several flights on this route, always for the same nonEuropean customer,” he explained.
The company plans to “be a civil party if the Secretary of State initiates a lawsuit or files a complaint.”
A police cordon blocks access to the airport and white tarpaulins cover the arrivals hall window.
Civil protection prepared beds and installed showers at the airport. Chemical toilets were also provided.
According to French law, a foreigner who arrives in France by plane and is prevented from boarding the flight to his destination country can be detained in the waiting area for up to four days.
The deadline can be extended by a judge by eight days and, in exceptional cases, by a further eight days. Depending on the resources presented, the maximum length of stay in the waiting area is 26 days.
Human trafficking is a crime punishable in France by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 3 million euros (R16 million).
The Indian Embassy in France said on Friday that it had been granted consular access and was “concerning the welfare of the passengers”.
According to the specialized website Flightradar, Legend Airlines is a small company with a fleet of four aircraft, including two A340313s.
The small Vatry airport received 62,000 passengers in 2022, mostly on flights of lowcost airlines, according to the Union of French Airports.
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