France: Court to rule on extending stay of 303 passengers of grounded flight

The 303 passengers, primarily Indians, of an aircraft headed for Nicaragua were being questioned by four French judges on Sunday. The passengers had been detained by French officials at Vatry airport, 150 km east of Paris, since Thursday on suspicion of “human trafficking”.

“The judges have the authority to extend the detention order being used by border police by eight days initially and for another eight if required. They have two days to complete speaking to the passengers. The judges are being helped by translators,” said a report in ‘Le Monde’ newspaper.

Some of the passengers spoke Hindi, while others spoke Tamil, and it is thought that they made phone calls to their relatives, according to the French media. According to a person familiar with the situation who was reported in the publication, ten of the passengers have asked for asylum.

According to French authorities, the plane has 11 unaccompanied youngsters and 2 passengers whose detention was prolonged on Saturday evening for a maximum of 48 hours after they were taken into custody on Friday.

Legend Airlines, a Romanian charter firm, is the owner of the aircraft. Liliana Bakayoko, an attorney for the firm, denied having anything to do with the trafficking.

The “partner” company that chartered the aircraft was in charge of confirming each passenger’s identity documents and providing the airline with the passengers’ passport details 48 hours prior to takeoff.

In France, there is a maximum 20-year penalty for human trafficking.

Following the passengers’ detention by French officials on suspicion of “human trafficking,” the Indian embassy in France said on Saturday that its employees are stationed at the airport close to Paris to monitor the welfare of Indian nationals.

The embassy expressed gratitude to the French authorities for their efforts during the extended Christmas holiday weekend to find a “early resolution” of the problem through an updated social media message on Saturday night.

After the jet that took off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was grounded at the Chalons-Vatry airport in Marne during a “technical halt” on Thursday, the embassy earlier announced that it had been granted consular access to its citizens.

“Continue to work with the French Gov for the welfare of the Indians currently at the Varty airport, 150 km East of Paris, & for early resolution of the situation,” reads the Indian Embassy post on its official X handle.

“Embassy consular staff stationed there. Thank French authorities for working on this through the long holiday weekend,” it added

It followed an earlier post, which read: “French authorities informed us of a plane w/ 303 people, mostly Indian origin, from Dubai to Nicaragua detained on a technical halt at a French airport. The embassy team has reached & obtained consular access. We are investigating the situation, also ensuring the wellbeing of passengers.”

According to French law, that term may be extended by a judge to eight days, and in extraordinary cases, by an additional eight days, for a total of a maximum of 26 days.

By prefectural decree, the airport receiving hall has been converted into a foreigner’s waiting room.

Eleven unaccompanied youngsters are among the passengers; six of them, the network said, have already started the process of applying for asylum in France.

The TV network paraphrased Francois as saying that anyone who apply for asylum in France will have to be interviewed and informed whether or not they qualify for political refugee status.

The Indian passengers may have planned their trip to get to Central America so they could try to enter the US or Canada illegally from there, according to the reports.

However, the authorities were notified by an anonymous tip that the passengers were “likely to be victims of human trafficking” in a formal gang.

According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organised Crime (JUNALCO) is conducting an inquiry with the goal of “verifying whether any elements would corroborate” accusations of human trafficking.

In order to “verify and corroborate the suspicion of trafficking in human beings by an organised gang,” a crime that carries a twenty-year prison sentence and fines of three million euros, two passengers were placed into police custody on Thursday.

(With agency inputs)