India Secures Consular Access for Passengers After France Grounds Plane Carrying Mostly Indians

India’s embassy in France has received consular access to its citizens after a Nicaragua-bound flight carrying 303 people, most of them were Indians, was detained by French authorities during ”a technical halt” at an airport near Paris over suspected ”human trafficking”.

The aircraft carrying 303 Indian passengers took off from the United Arab Emirates, was grounded in France on Thursday over suspected ”human trafficking, French authorities were quoted as saying by the local media on Friday.

”French authorities informed us of a plane w/ 303 people, mostly Indian origin, from Dubai to Nicaragua detained on a technical halt at a French airport,” the Indian mission said in a post on ’X’.” The embassy team has reached & obtained consular access. We are investigating the situation, also ensuring the wellbeing of passengers,” it said.

According to a French newspaper report, the national anti-organised crime unit JUNALCO has taken over the investigation. Special investigators are questioning all those aboard and two people are in custody pending further examination, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Furthermore, according to the reports, the travel may have been planned by the Indian passengers to reach Central America from where they can attempt to enter the United States or Canada illegally.

After landing in France, the passengers were first kept on the aircraft, but then let out and given individual beds in the terminal building. The entire airport was cordoned off by police. The prosecutor’s office said an anonymous tip signalled that the flight was carrying people who could be victims of human trafficking. Passengers were eventually transferred into the main hall of the small Vatry airport, where cots were set up for them to stay overnight on Thursday, the administration for the Marne region told the newspaper.

French border police can initially hold a foreign national for up to four days if they land in France and are prevented from travelling on to their intended destination. 

Human trafficking carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in France.