Politics

France authorizes grounded plane carrying 303 Indians to leave

Paris, Dec 24 (EFE).- The French authorities allowed Sunday a grounded plane carrying 303 Indians to Nicaragua to leave the country.

The plane was grounded on Thursday at Vatry airport, 140 km east of Paris, on suspicions of human trafficking. The passengers are still being questioned by judges to determine if they too can leave.

The public prosecutor’s office in Paris, which has been heading the investigation, announced the aircraft – Airbus A340 – of the Romanian company Legend Airlines would be permitted to leave.

The prosecutor’s office, however, upheld the arrest of two of the passengers, as part of an investigation into a possible case of human trafficking.

Meanwhile, the authorities are continuing the process of interrogating the other passengers, in order to determine whether they should be released or kept in detention.

Four judges, four court clerks, as many Hindi interpreters and seven lawyers are involved in the proceedings, which will run until tomorrow Monday, to determine whether there is reason to justify the continued retention of travelers.

Four judges, four court clerks, as many Hindi interpreters and seven lawyers are involved in the proceedings, which will run until Monday morning, to determine whether there is reason to justify the continued detention of travelers.

The plane was grounded by French authorities when it landed at Vatry airport on a technical stopover on the way between Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Managua.

The authorities had received an anonymous tipoff that the passengers could be victims of human trafficking.

Among the occupants of the plane were also 11 unaccompanied minors who were assigned legal representation in France. Six of them have started the procedure to apply for asylum in the European country, according to local media reports.

The crew of the plane, made up of about thirty people, has already been questioned and released.

Since Thursday, the airport has been under lockdown, with police officers ensuring that no one enters or leaves the premises.

Authorities set up a reception center in the airport lobby, with individual lounge chairs, medical care and food distribution at regular hours.

Various police, judicial and administrative agencies specializing in international trafficking in persons are involved in the investigation.

The Indian embassy in Paris immediately deployed staff from its consulate to collaborate with the French authorities in the case and also to assist its citizens.

Sources close to the case have suggested to local media the hypothesis that the passengers could be Indian workers in the UAE trying to join the flow of immigrants trying to reach the United States or Canada from Central America.

Another theory is that the technical stopover was a pretext and France was the final destination of the flight. EFE

rcf/sc

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