A Paris court has convicted six people smugglers of involuntary homicide over the sinking of a small boat in the Channel on 24 November 2021, which killed 31 migrants in the deadliest such disaster on the crossing. The six received prison terms of six to 10 years, seven others got lighter sentences of up to four years, and one defendant was acquitted; the court issued six arrest warrants because most defendants had attended the trial as free men. Prosecutors said the Iraqi Kurdish and Afghan networks sent the victims to sea in an unsuitable, overloaded boat without proper life jackets, and only two people survived. The verdict came as France and the UK ended their "one-in, one-out" returns scheme, and as a separate inquiry continues into seven French military personnel accused of failing to respond to the boat's distress calls.