France: 13 smugglers sentenced for the deadly 2021 Channel shipwreck

Thirteen individuals were sentenced in Paris on Wednesday to up to ten years in prison for their involvement in the 2021 shipwreck in the English Channel that resulted in 31 deaths, mostly Iraqi Kurds. French justice viewed these sentences as a recognition of the smugglers' criminal responsibility in this tragedy, described by the Interior Minister as the largest migrant disaster on this route. The victims’ families see the verdict as a relief and a sign that these deaths are acknowledged and not forgotten.