This morning in the UK he has been arrested a man suspected of being involved in the deaths of at least 27 migrant people who drowned last year while trying to cross the English channel on a rubber dinghy. The IOM, the UN agency that deals with migrations, had said that it had been the most serious shipwreck on that route since 2014, that is, since it had started collecting data about it.
The arrested man is called Harem Ahmed Abwbaker, he is 32 years old and is accused of being part of the group that organized the transport of migrants from France to the United Kingdom. The National Crime Agency (NCA), the UK’s main agency against organized crime and human trafficking, said he was arrested in the county of Gloucestershire, in the south-west of the country. On Wednesday, he is due to appear in court before being extradited to France where he faces manslaughter charges.
The case in which Harem Ahmed Abwbaker is involved took place last November. A boat sank after leaving the French coast: 27 people drowned, two were saved and four others were missing. NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner said the arrest was “significant”: “The man arrested today is suspected of having played a key role in the manslaughter of those who died. Working closely with our French partners, we are determined to do everything we can to achieve justice for the families of those who have died and to disrupt and dismantle the vicious criminal networks involved in human trafficking.”
