الكاتب: kafej

Around 300 Indian travellers are stuck in a French airport after their flight was grounded in a human trafficking investigation.

Those on board the Romania-based charter company Legend Airlines plane from Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, in Nicaragua, included families and children.

The youngest passenger is a 21-month-old toddler while some of the children are unaccompanied, according to the local civil protection agency.

The A340 plane has been grounded since Thursday, when it stopped for fuelling at the small Vatry Airport, in the Champagne region of northeast France, after a tip-off those on board might be victims of people smugglers.

Two people have been detained and special investigators are questioning the other passengers, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

Prosecutors wouldn’t comment on the kind of trafficking alleged, or whether the ultimate destination of the passengers was likely to be the US, which has seen a large rise in the number of Indians crossing the Mexico-US border this year.

White canvas has been hung across the airport’s bay windows by authorities to protect the privacy of the those inside.

Other flights were cancelled or rerouted as the airport was transformed into the hub of a vast human trafficking investigation.

Passengers sleep on camp beds

The 15 crew members have been questioned and released, according to a lawyer for the airline, who said they are deeply shaken by what happened.

Passengers have been held in the airport, where they have spent two nights on camp beds while the investigation continues, according to an official with the local administration.

Emergency workers, Red Cross workers, a doctor and local volunteers have arrived at the scene to look after the needs of the passengers, including providing regular meals, medical care and access to toilets and showers, the administration said in a statement on Saturday.

A special section of the terminal has been equipped for families, and Indian consular representatives are visiting regularly, the administration said.

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The Indian Embassy in France posted on X that embassy staff had obtained consular access to the passengers.

“We are investigating the situation and ensuring the wellbeing of passengers,” it said.

Airline denies role in possible human trafficking

Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said the company denies any role in possible human trafficking, and welcomed the release of the plane’s crew after questioning as “good news for the airline”.

A “partner” company that chartered the plane was responsible for verifying the identity documents of each passenger, and communicated the passengers’ passport information to the airline 48 hours before the flight, Ms Bakayoko said.

The customer, which she would not identify but said was not a European company, had chartered multiple flights on Legend Airlines from Dubai to Nicaragua, some of which had already made the journey without incident, she said.

The crew members, who are of multiple nationalities, “are rather traumatised”, she said, adding: “They wrote me messages that they want to see their families for Christmas.”

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While it is not certain the Indians’ destination was the US, Nicaragua has frequently been used as a springboard for migrants because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some nationalities.

Charter flights are sometimes used to make the journey before migrants travel north by bus with the help of smugglers.

The US is dealing with record numbers of people trying to reach the US border from Mexico with the issue of border security becoming a key Republican line of attack ahead of the 2024 election.

A drone has hit an Israeli-affiliated merchant vessel off the coast of India in the Arabian Sea, a UK maritime security firm has said.

It was the first such known attack so far away from the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas war began.

There has been an increasing number of threats to vessels off the coast of Yemen, with Yemeni rebel group the Houthis saying their attacks are aimed at Israel-linked ships and are in support of Palestinians under siege by Israel in Gaza.

But the Liberian-flagged chemical product tanker was damaged 120 miles southwest of the Indian port of Veraval – more than 1,500 miles from the entrance to the Red Sea – according to Ambrey, a Hereford-based global maritime risk firm.

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There were no casualties, the firm said. It did not give further details about the vessel’s links to Israel.

Ambrey said the drone struck the stern and caused a fire onboard that was later extinguished, but the vessel suffered some structural damage and some water was taken onboard.

“The vessel was Israel-affiliated. She had last called in Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time,” Ambrey said.

“Merchant vessels are advised these types of attacks are typically targeted at Israel-affiliated shipping, but have in the past mistakenly hit previously Israel-affiliated vessels.”

The Indian Navy responded after the shipping company requested assistance, an Indian Navy official said.

“Indian Navy had dispatched an aircraft, which arrived overhead the MV (merchant vessel),” a statement by the navy said.

“Safety of the crew and ship was ascertained. A warship has also been dispatched to provide any assistance as required.”

The Indian Coast Guard identified the tanker as MV Chem Pluto and said it had 20 Indian nationals and one Vietnamese on board.

Meanwhile, another incident took place in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency announced.

Approximately 50 nautical miles west of Hodeidah, Yemen, there were multiple reports of drones flying low above a vessel before exploding about 1.5 nautical miles from the ship.

Vessels were advised to transit with caution, the agency said in a statement.

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Houthi militants threaten Red Sea vessels

Major global shipping firms have been forced to reroute their vessels in the wake of drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants.

Many vessels are taking a longer and costlier route around the southern tip of Africa.

The British, US and French navies have responded by shooting down Houthi drones and missiles.

More than 20 countries including the UK have agreed to form a US-led coalition to help safeguard vessels from Houthi attacks, with at least one Royal Navy destroyer involved.

Washington launched Operation Prosperity Guardian earlier this week, saying more than a dozen countries had agreed to participate in an effort involving joint patrols in Red Sea waters near Yemen.

Iran has denied US accusations it was involved in planning Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday.

واس – غزة:

وزع مركز الملك سلمان للإغاثة والأعمال الإنسانية، أمس، المواد الغذائية الأساسية في مخيم النازحين وسط مدينة رفح جنوب قطاع غزة، بالتنسيق مع الهلال الأحمر الفلسطيني، وذلك ضمن الحملة الشعبية لإغاثة الشعب الفلسطيني الشقيق في قطاع غزة. وتأتي هذه المساعدات في إطار الدعم التاريخي المعهود الذي تقدمه المملكة لفلسطين في شتى القطاعات الإنسانية والإغاثية، وتجسيداً للدور الإنساني الكبير الذي تقوم به المملكة عبر ذراعها الإنسانية مركز الملك سلمان للإغاثة تجاه الدول الشقيقة والصديقة في مختلف الأزمات والمحن.