Fourteen people have gone on trial in France over the sinking of a migrant dinghy in the English Channel in November 2021 that killed at least 27 people, with four others still unaccounted for. The defendants — most of them Afghan or Iraqi nationals — face charges including manslaughter and criminal conspiracy for alleged roles in organising or facilitating the doomed crossing, in which the vessel was described by investigators as overloaded, uncertified, and unfit for open-sea navigation. The case, the deadliest small-boat crossing of the Channel on record, carries wider significance as it highlights the deadly risks of a route used by tens of thousands of migrants annually attempting to reach Britain from France.