Last week, a group of 303 Indian passengers were detained in France on suspicion of human trafficking on a flight to Nicaragua. After several days of investigation and interrogation, the French prosecutor finally approved the flight's application to take off, and the passengers left on Monday.
The Airbus A340, which was carrying 303 passengers, was originally departing from the United Arab Emirates and refueling via Watteri Airport in eastern France. However, the plane was detained after an anonymous report that the passengers on the plane may have been suspected of human trafficking.
These include children and families travelling. According to the French authorities, the youngest passenger was only 21 months old, and there were several minors among them.
After the plane was grounded, the passengers were initially stranded on the plane and later transferred to the terminal. Local **, medical staff and volunteers have set up temporary rest areas at the airport to provide passengers with beds, regular meals and shower facilities.
After two days of questioning, French prosecutors approved the flight to take off on Sunday. Local authorities said in a statement that full departure approval is expected on Monday.
The flight was operated by Legend Airlines, a Romanian-based charter company. Liliana Bakayoko, a lawyer for the company, told The Associated Press that they hoped the flight would fly to Mumbai, India, on Monday and take as many passengers as possible. It is estimated that about 280 passengers were able to leave.
Separately, 15 crew members of the flight, who were released on Saturday after being interrogated, denied involvement in the human trafficking case.
Notably, since the first half of the year, there has been a surge in the illegal entry of Indians into the United States from Mexico. In the budget year ending Sept. 30, the number of arrests of Indian citizens for attempting to enter the U.S. illegally from Mexico reached 41,770, several times the number of cases the year before, according to U.S.** data.
Specifically, two passengers were also detained for investigation on suspicion of a different role from the others. In addition, 12 of the passengers have applied for asylum according to France's AFP news agency, but prosecutors did not disclose the specific type of trafficking involved and whether the passengers' final destination is the United States.