Indian passengers detained in France were cleared of suspicion of trafficking and subsequently released.

 

The 25 passengers, who sought asylum in France and boarded a flight from Dubai aiming to reach Nicaragua, have been freed

The 25 Indian passengers, including minors seeking asylum in France, were detained in France on suspicion of trafficking.

 They had boarded a flight from Dubai operated by Legend Airlines, intending to reach Nicaragua. However, a scheduled stopover in Vatry airport, France, on December 21 led to the grounding of the plane after an anonymous tip-off.

The passengers were accused of human trafficking, but further investigations revealed that they had boarded the plane voluntarily. 

As a result, the trafficking charges against them were dropped, and they were released on Tuesday. 

Five of the individuals were minors and were taken into the care of child welfare services.

The remaining 276 passengers on the flight were sent back to India, while the 25 individuals are now free to make their own choices regarding their future actions.

 However, two individuals remain in France under suspicion of people trafficking, as per police questioning.

The public prosecutor's office in Bobigny clarified that even though some of these passengers might have an irregular status in France, they are permitted to make their own choices while on French territory.

 The judge's decision to release them was based on procedural grounds, emphasizing that the authorities hadn’t referred the case within the legal timeframe.