| For Immediate Release Monday 14 November 2022 PRESS RELEASE: New evidence in Channel tragedy uncovered by French lawyers On 24 November last year, 32 lives were lost in the worst maritime disaster in the Channel for 30 years. The French authorities have now disclosed their record of emergency calls made that night to lawyers as part of the French investigation into the tragedy. The two survivors of the shipwreck each stated in their hearings that passengers had tried to contact French and English rescue services on the evening of the sinking. The call logs now reveal that both the French and British authorities were aware of the boat in distress and of its position, but no efforts appear to have been made to send help until it was too late to save most of the passengers. UK and French emergency services spent crucial hours passing the buck about which of them should rescue a stricken small boat trying to cross the Channel last November, instead of dispatching a crew to save the people onboard. At 01:51am on 24 November, a passenger called the French authorities and indicated that there were 33 people on board a boat who needed help. The communication lasts nearly fourteen minutes. “Please please ! (…) We need help, if you please. Help us if you please” he begs. At the end of the call, she told him that she had received his location and that she would send help. At 02:06am, a telephone conversation between the English and French authorities indicated the position of the boat, which was then in French waters and 0.6 nautical miles from English waters. At 2:10 am, the boat again reported its location by WhatsApp, which still located it in French waters. The people on board continued to call the authorities. At 02:33am, a position is again sent by a passenger to the French authorities, who then reply to say to call 999 as they are in English waters. At 02:45am, a passenger contacted the French authorities and asked for assistance. Screams could be heard in the background. The coast guard told him that the boat was in English waters and that they should contact 999. The passengers continue to call the French authorities fifteen times between 2h43 and 4h22 in vain. At 02:46am, a passenger called the French authorities and asked for help and the call was cut off. Around 3am the boat overturned, spilling all passengers into the water and some began to drown because of the waves. Over time, others resigned themselves to letting go as they gave in to the cold. At 03:31am, a passenger called the French authorities, indicating that they were literally “in the water”. The authorities replied “yes, but you are in English waters Sir”. At 03:44am, a shipwrecked person contacted the French authorities again and called for help. The French authorities told him that they were in English waters and that he should call 999. The castaway said that he could not call them and was told by the caller that “they have already been informed. They are on their way“. Eventually the call is cut off. At 04:08am, the English authorities called the French authorities to inform them that they had received a distress call from a small boat but had “found nothing at this location”. The French authorities thanked them for their call and informed them that their rescue vessel was already engaged in another operation. At 04:09am, a passenger contacted French authorities and asked for help. The rescuer replied that “we have to wait” and that a lifeboat would “arrive in a few minutes”. Email exchanges between the French and British authorities indicate that the boat arrived in English waters at 2.30am. The British coastguard said in another email that they had contacted a passenger and that a French tone had revealed that the boat was in French waters. At 04:34am, the French authorities “closed the operation” of the wrecked boat, considering that there was no longer any distress given the cessation of calls for help and the probable intervention of the British rescue services. Nine hours later – at 2pm the next day – a French fisherman spotted the bodies in the water and raised the alarm. When the French coastguard finally arrived they found only two survivors. Twenty-seven bodies were recovered, including those of six women and a girl; three bodies remain missing. There will be a hearing at the French magistrates office in Paris on Friday 18 November. The British authorities are waiting for the outcome of an ongoing Marine Accident Investigation Branch before any further inquiry takes place. A year on the victims’ families are still waiting for answers on how they could have been so badly let down by the authorities. A vigil will be held to mark the anniversary of the tragedy at 6pm on 24 November outside Westminster Abbey in London. Zana Mamand Mohammad, brother of one of the victims, said: “My teenage brother, one year after your disappearance, I have tried non-stop to find anything about you and I have knocked on every door. I still stare at my phone hoping for a message or call from you. I am doing my best to obtain justice for you and your friends. “If you knew how we have passed this past year you would never have made that journey. Every day has been like a year. Our mother is destroyed as if she is not alive anymore. Our father is sallow and has aged in a way that you would never recognize him. Our sisters are constantly praying for your return, our brothers are just living with your memories. Where are you brother? Where did the waves take you? Please show yourself and take me out of this nightmare.” Clare Moseley, founder of Care4Calais said: “The vast majority of people in Calais are genuine refugees who have suffered unimaginable horrors and come here simply to ask for help. They shouldn’t be risking their lives to claim asylum in the UK, and that fact that they have no legal way to get here is to our Government’s shame. The callousness and apathy of authorities that leave tortured families waiting over a year for answers is scandalous. We must urgently know what lessons should be learned from this incident before more people die.” Weyman Bennett, co-convener of Stand Up To Racism, added: “The vast majority of people will be absolutely horrified to hear the harrowing, hour by hour minute by minute account of what happened in the last hours of 32 people’s lives. It was the cold, dead hand of the French and British authorities who left those poor people to perish in the Channel. “But Suella Braverman describes them as an “invasion”. Rishi Sunak met at Cop27 with French president Macron, and fascist Meloni, not to discuss addressing climate chaos, or how we can welcome those fleeing wars, poverty and ecological disaster. They met to discuss how to toughen the already racist Fortess Europe, Fortress Britain borders policy. “They do not speak for us. We call on all anti racists, all appalled by the dehumanising, racist and dog whistle demonisation of refugees to join us in challenging the racist environment. Refugees are people simply looking for safety in this life. We call on all to raise their voices to say it loud and say it clear, refugees are welcome here. We reject Braverman and Sunak’s politics of divide and rule.” Wilf Sullivan, Race Equality Officer at the TUC, added: “A year ago, 34 mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers died in the English Channel despite pleas for help to the UK and French authorities. Despite this tragedy the Government has doubled down on closing legal routes into our country for those fleeing war and oppression. “We call on all of those with a conscience to join us on the 24th November at our vigil to remember those that died in the channel to demand that our government stops playing politics with people’s rights and provide safe routes for those seeking asylum and safety in the UK.” ENDS Notes to Editor: The report on the French authorities disclosures is attached. For more information, interviews and further quotes: info@standuptoracism.org.uk / joe@care4calais.org NOTE: Stand Up To Racism is a broad based anti racist organisation supported by trade unions, faith and campaign organisations. |
