Aircraft with Indian passengers detained in France could leave today
An aircraft with 303 Indian passengers detained near Paris over the suspicion of human trafficking could leave on Monday (Dec 25), the news agency AFP reported citing French judicial officials. The Nicaragua-bound Airbus A340 has been held at the Vatry airport, 150 kilometres east of Paris, since arriving from Dubai on Thursday following an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking.
The aircraft was operated by the Romanian company Legend Airlines.
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Aircraft with Indian passengers detained in France could leave today
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After passengers were questioned for two days, French prosecutors on Sunday gave the go-ahead for the plane to leave, and full approval for its departure is expected Monday, according to the local prefecture.
It was not known what would be the destination, but the head of the local bar association, Francois Procureur, told a press conference the passengers would be flown to India, AFP reported.
Eleven unaccompanied minors among passengers
The passengers aboard the aircraft included 11 unaccompanied minors, according to Paris prosecutors. Six of the minors expressed an interest in applying for asylum.
The passengers were put up at the airport during the investigation. Two of them were detained since last Friday “to verify” whether their role “may have been different than the others in this transport, and under what conditions and with what objectives”.
Twelve of the passengers have requested asylum, a source told AFP.
Another source said that Indian passengers were likely workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who had been bound for Nicaragua as a jumping-off spot for the United States or Canada.
(With inputs from agencies)