UK Edition
French refused to help sinking migrant boat before 27 died in Channel
Leaked report reveals that France's coastguard is suspected of criminal negligence - while UK response was exemplary
France failed to tell Britain that a migrant boat was sinking and ignored a rescue offer from a passing tanker, according to a leaked probe.
The report also praised Britain for its exemplary response to last year's deadly Channel tragedy.
Previous reports suggested that the French and British coastguard services both passed the buck as a dinghy packed with migrants sank in the Channel on November 24 last year, resulting in 27 deaths.
However, interim findings of an ongoing investigation point the finger squarely at the French, suggesting Calais coastguards’ stubborn refusal to help the stricken vessel despite migrants’ repeated and increasingly desperate pleas may warrant criminal charges for “non-assistance of persons in danger”.
The note on the ten-month-old probe by the Cherbourg maritime gendarme investigations unit, which was leaked to Le Monde, called for “further investigations” to examine this possibility.
The flimsy vessel, which was totally “unsuited to a night Channel crossing” set off at around 10pm local time. French authorities were first notified it was sinking at 1.35am and were made aware of its location at 2.05am.
The leaked document concludes that the French coastguard repeatedly failed to respond to distress calls sent from French territorial waters backed up by GPS coordinates and lied to migrants by claiming it was sending a boat that never showed up.
When the migrant dinghy did finally reach UK waters, the French contacted the British but “never” told them that the boat had been in distress for hours and was sinking. As a result, the British prioritised another three boats in distress, saving 98 migrants that night.
As soon as it was made aware of the vessel’s location at 2.30am, the UK coastguard “rapidly” dispatched its rescue boat, the Valiant, to the area but asked the French to send its rescue craft, le Flamant, because it was much nearer the zone.
The French failed to do so, later claiming the boat was engaged in another rescue operation. However, Le Monde cites the probe as saying this claim was false and that Le Flamant was not, in fact, performing any “vital” task.
“Receiving no more calls (from the migrants, who were in contact with the French),” the UK coastguard “clearly thought that they had been saved,” wrote the gendarmes.
At 3.27am, the British issued a mayday call, which went unanswered.
In further damning findings, the French also told a tanker that came across the stricken boat not to help because its rescue boat was on its way.
The following afternoon, a fishing boat came across dead bodies in the water. There were only two survivors.
The gendarmes also accused the “Gris-Nez” coastguard of dragging its feet when communicating contact details of staff involved that night.
They also pointed to the “inappropriate” behaviour of certain French personnel, notably the deputy director of the Griz-Nez coastguard who nicknamed himself Super Migrant on his iPad.
In its defence, investigators said that the French coastguard was clearly totally swamped by the sheer number of small boat crossings and struggling to cope. Le Monde revealed that a month before the tragedy, the highest local state representative had warned that its services were “saturated” and called for urgent “reinforcements” - to no avail.
Speaking to Telegraph on Tuesday, the Channel and North Sea maritime state prefecture said: "The prefecture supports the CROSS (coastguard) staff which does remarkable work and continues to coordinate rescue operations."
It saved the lives of 90 migrants last Monday alone, including a pregnant woman who gave birth in a Calais hospital shortly after being rescued, said a spokeswoman.
She added that the drownings investigation is now being led by magistrates at the national unit against organised crime, Junalco, based in Paris, which must now decide whether to widen the probe.
The number of migrants crossing the Channel from France to England has soared over the last five years from almost none to 42,000 this year, causing severe tensions between Paris and London.
The drownings last November led to plunging relations relations when Boris Johnson, the then prime minister, suggested all asylum seekers who landed in Britain be sent back across the Channel.
Britain agreed last week to pay another £63 million to France to help finance extra security measures on French beaches.
However, in an editorial, Le Monde dismissed the deal as little more than a “vanity” project.
“Subcontracting French police (to prevent Channel crossings) allows the UK to largely shirk its duty to examine asylum requests on its border,” it wrote, pointing out that the UK handled 48,000 such requests last year compared with 96,000 in France.
Such requests for asylum in the UK should at least “partially” be conducted in France, its editorial added. “It’s time for the deadly blame game to end”.
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, is due shortly to meet ministers from the Calais group of nations - including France, Belgium and the Netherlands - to plot the next steps on tackling the people smuggling behind Channel crossings.
“The agreement we reached this week is a good first step, but the Home Secretary will be meeting other northern European interior ministers through the Calais group shortly to discuss what the next steps might be.
“If it is possible to take the agreement further, we will certainly try to.”