EXPLAINER

A makeshift courtroom has been set up at a French airport to investigate human trafficking concerns.

There was a plane carrying suspected human trafficking victims redirected to India on his way to Nicaragua after being arrested in France. It has now landed in Mumbai.

Although no evidence of human trafficking was found, the investigation raised concerns about undocumented immigration, which is still being investigated by French authorities.

Here’s what we know about the flight’s turbulent journey over the past few days.

What happened to the plane suspected of human trafficking in France?

• The aircraft was an Airbus A340 from Romania-based Legend Airlines. The plane carrying 303 Indian passengers took off from Fujairah International Airport in Dubai and was en route to Nicaragua in Central America.
• On Thursday afternoon, the plane made a refueling stop at Vatry airport, about 150 km (95 miles) east of Paris. French police seized the opportunity to intervene after receiving an anonymous tip that these may have been some of their passengers Victims of human trafficking.
• The plane remained grounded in France for four days due to legal consultations. The reception hall at Vatry Airport has been converted into a waiting area. Passengers had been assigned single beds while they waited for a decision on where they would travel next, local officials in France’s eastern Marne region said on Friday.
• A French court ruled that authorities did not have the authority to continue detaining several passengers, and French prosecutors gave clearance for the plane to depart on Sunday.
• The Airbus A340 then took off on Monday with 276 of the Indian passengers and landed in Mumbai early on Tuesday. It is unclear why the plane was diverted to Mumbai instead of continuing its journey to Nicaragua. The remaining 27 passengers on the original flight remained in France.
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Why was the plane detained in France?

A makeshift courtroom was set up at the airport where emergency hearings on the conditions and purposes of the trip were held for two days by a unit specializing in organized crime.

Consular officials from the Indian Embassy in Paris were also there.

25 of the passengers, including five minors, sought asylum in the country, while two passengers were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and then released. They have also reportedly applied for asylum.

“We cannot keep foreigners in a holding area for more than 96 hours. In addition, the freedom and custody judge must decide their fate,” said Francois Procureur, president of the Chalons-en-Champagne Bar Association. said local television on Saturday.

After clearance, the aircraft left Vatry airport.

What evidence of human trafficking was found?

No concrete evidence was found, but French authorities said they were continuing to investigate potential violations of immigration laws.

The passengers were likely Indian workers in the United Arab Emirates who wanted to use Nicaragua as a gateway to the United States or Canada, a source familiar with the investigation told news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Liliana Bakayoko, a lawyer for Legend Airlines, denied that the company played any role in human trafficking or “committed any violation.”

According to Bakayoko, an unnamed “partner company” was responsible for verifying each passenger’s identification documents.

What do we know about the passengers?

The passengers were Indians and included many children, including 11 unaccompanied minors and a 21-month-old child.

They were “frustrated” after spending several nights at the airport said Patrick Jalouxthe head of civil protection in the Marne region.

The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines flight were also questioned and released.

The prosecutor said the hearings were “unprecedented.”

“I am surprised at how things have turned out in the waiting area,” Procureur told BFM Television. “People should have been informed of their rights and that clearly wasn’t the case.”

Why Nicaragua and what happens to the passengers now?

The United States has ranked Nicaragua as the country that has done the least to prevent human trafficking. It is both a source and an important transit route for undocumented people seeking to enter the United States.

Although no human trafficking has yet been confirmed among the plane’s passengers, Genevieve Colas, coordinator of French nonprofit Secours Catholique-Caritas, told AFP that the release of the plane “surprised” her. “What if they really were victims of human trafficking?” she asked. “Then it wouldn’t be right to simply let them leave for another country.” Secours Catholique-Caritas works with displaced people and migrants in several countries around the world.

In Mumbai, Indian authorities are expected to question the returned passengers about their plans as several elements of the case remain unclear.

From October 2022 to September, nearly 97,000 Indians were stopped while attempting to enter the US illegally. This is a fivefold increase compared to 2019-2020.