2023-12-24 16:47:27
The French authorities hope to obtain “Monday morning at the latest” authorizations to re-route by plane the 303 Indian passengers, confined since Thursday evening in an airport in Marne following the immobilization of their aircraft, amid suspicions of human trafficking.
Read also: A plane carrying more than 300 Indians immobilized in the Marne for “suspicions of human trafficking”; two passengers in custody
The Paris prosecutor’s office told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that justice had authorized the device to leave. “This decision makes it possible to consider the rerouting of passengers placed in the waiting zone [dans l’aéroport] »then announced the Marne prefecture in a press release, without giving details on any destination. “Consequently, the competent authorities of the DGAC [direction générale de l’aviation civile] are working to obtain the necessary authorizations for the plane to take off again, which should take place no later than Monday morning”clarified the prefecture.
“For the moment, passengers continue to be supported in the waiting area, with the support of a civil security association”we can also read in the prefecture document.
The possibility of departure of these Indian passengers – two of whom are still in police custody – is reinforced by the cancellation by the courts, for a first passenger, of the procedure keeping them in the airport for three days. “It is very likely that the other files will follow the same path”said the President of Châlons-en-Champagne, François Procureur, during a press briefing after this decision.
” Bad life conditions “
This cancellation, decided by a judge of freedoms and detention (JLD), is explained in particular by the waiting period of eleven hours between the moment when the plane was immobilized and when a JLD was seized, this which is “a disproportionate attack on human rights”according to the order consulted by AFP.
These JLDs had been mobilized for a major operation on Christmas Eve, in a building adjacent to the terminal, in order to decide on the retention of these passengers in the waiting zone. Earlier on Sunday, François Procureur was moved to “problems of cramped conditions and poor living conditions” in this waiting zone created by prefectural decree Thursday evening.
The 303 Indian passengers on the flight operated by the Romanian company Legend Airlines between Dubai and Managua, capital of Nicaragua, have been confined since Thursday afternoon, following the immobilization of their Airbus A340 in Vatry, 150 kilometers from Paris, where the aircraft stopped to refuel.
What was only supposed to be a technical stopover turned into a long downtime following a “anonymous report” according to which passengers were “likely to be victims of human trafficking” in an organized gang, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP on Friday.
Eleven unaccompanied minors
According to a source close to the matter, these Indians, probably workers in the United Arab Emirates, could have planned to go to Central America in order to then try to enter illegally into the United States or Canada. Among them are eleven unaccompanied minors, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Online courses, evening classes, workshops: develop your skills
Discover
The investigation, carried out by the national jurisdiction for the fight against organized crime (Junalco), aims to “check if there is any corroborating evidence” suspicion of human trafficking, according to the prosecution. Two police custody which began on Friday “extended on Saturday evening, for a maximum duration of forty-eight hours”declared the Paris prosecutor’s office to AFP, ” in order to check “ if the role of these two people “may have been different from that of others”.
Ten asylum requests had also been filed late Saturday afternoon, according to a source close to the case. The Marne prefecture specifies that individual beds, toilets and showers have been installed, as well as a “family” zone to ensure parent-child privacy”.
The thirty crew members concerned either by the Dubai-Vatry connection, or by the Vatry-Managua route, were “allowed to leave freely”assured AFP Liliana Bakayoko, who presents herself as the airline’s lawyer.
According to the specialized site FlightradarLegend Airlines is a small company whose fleet consists of four aircraft.
#authorities #authorize #plane #leave #prepare #rerouting #passengers