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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
National
RFI

French court issues tough sentences in Channel smuggling trial

An aerial shot taken in September 2023 by French border police shows migrants on a smuggling dinghy attempting to cross the English Channel from Le Touquet, northern France. AFP - SAMEER AL-DOUMY

A French court has sentenced 18 people – mainly Iraqi Kurds – to prison terms of up to 15 years for organising a major migrant-smuggling ring that transported people across the English Channel in small, flimsy boats.

The trial, held in Lille, exposed the dangers and high profits of the illegal crossings from France to England.

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