Ten of the passengers are applying for French asylum as judges examine whether a criminal group is linked to human trafficking.

Hundreds of Indian nationals held at a French airport are being questioned by authorities over fears they may be victims of human trafficking.

Four French judges are rushing to speak to the group of over 300 Indians who have been stuck at Vatry airport, 150 km (93 miles) east of Paris, since Thursday.

Their charter plane, bound for the Central American nation of Nicaragua, was stopped at Vatry Airport, where it had landed to refuel, after authorities received an anonymous tip that human trafficking victims might be on board. It had taken off from Fujairah Airport in the United Arab Emirates and was operated by Romania-based Legend Airlines.

“The situation is urgent”

According to the administration of the Marne region, the seized passengers are due to appear on Sunday before French judges, who will decide whether they will stay at the airport longer or be sent on.

“I don’t know if this has ever been done before in France,” Francois Procureur, a lawyer and president of the Chalons-en-Champagne bar association, told local media on Saturday. The situation is urgent because “we cannot keep foreigners in a waiting area for longer than 96 hours.” Furthermore, the freedom and custody judge must decide their fate,” he said.

If necessary, a specialized judge could extend the passengers’ detention to eight days, and in exceptional cases an additional eight days.

After initially being held on the airport tarmac, the passengers were taken to an airport waiting area where beds were set up for them to sleep, French television station BFM reported. According to media reports, employees were also available to provide medical assistance to those in need.

The group includes many children and 11 unaccompanied minors. Ten of the passengers had applied for asylum, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reported, citing a source familiar with the case.

Patrick Jaloux, head of civil protection in the Marne region, said passengers were understandably “frustrated” after spending three nights at the airport.

The Indian Embassy in Paris said on Saturday it was working on a “quick resolution of the situation” and posted on X that “consular officials were on site.”

Airline denies role as human trafficker

Several of the arrested travelers are suspected of playing a different “role” on the trip than the other passengers.

Two people in particular are being investigated as part of a special investigation on suspicion of human trafficking by a criminal organization, the Paris public prosecutor’s office said

The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight were questioned and released, according to the airline’s lawyer, who denied that the company may have been involved in human trafficking.

The airline “did not commit any violation,” said lawyer Liliana Bakayoko.

Bakayoko added that a “partner company,” which she did not name, was responsible for verifying each passenger’s identification documents.

Nicaragua, where the flight was headed, was identified by the U.S. government as one of several countries failing to meet minimum standards to combat human trafficking.

Nicaragua has also been used as a base by people fleeing poverty or conflict in the Caribbean, as well as from far-flung countries in Africa or Asia, due to relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some countries. From there, the migrants travel north on buses with the help of smugglers.

According to Mexican immigration officials, the flow of Indian migrants through Mexico rose from fewer than 3,000 in 2022 to more than 11,000 from January to November this year.

In the US government’s fiscal year ended September 30, Indian citizens were arrested 41,770 times while entering the US from Mexico illegally, more than double the 18,308 the previous year.