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Plane Held For Days In France On Trafficking Concerns Lands In India

Published

2 years ago

December 26, 2023

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A plane grounded in France for days over concerns it was part of a human trafficking scheme landed in India Tuesday, with its passengers avoiding media questions as they quickly exited bustling Mumbai airport.

The Airbus A340 initially had been bound for Nicaragua when it was detained last Thursday at Vatry airport, east of Paris, France where it had stopped for refuelling.

It had arrived from the United Arab Emirates and was halted after an anonymous tip-off that it was carrying potential victims of human trafficking.

Of the original 303 people on the passenger list, 276 were on the plane that arrived in Mumbai before dawn on Tuesday.

Passengers began walking out onto the concourse four hours later but refused to speak to a large crowd of waiting journalists and covered their faces to shield their identities.

It was unclear whether the arrivals were questioned by authorities and India’s government has yet to issue a statement on their return.

Among those staying behind in France were two people questioned by police there over suspected people trafficking.

A judicial source said they were released after it was established the passengers had boarded the plane of their own free will.

Authorities in France continue to investigate the case for a potential violation of immigration laws, but no longer for people trafficking, judicial sources said.

Another 25 passengers sought asylum in France including five minors, local officials said.

A source close to the inquiry told AFP that those aboard were likely workers in the UAE bound for Nicaragua, which they intended to use as a staging post for journeys to the United States or Canada.

Authorisation for the plane to leave France came after a court ruled that any further detention of three of its passengers would be illegal.

The passengers of the flight, operated by Romanian company Legend Airlines, were put up at Vatry airport during the investigation.

Beds, toilets and showers were installed, the local prefecture said, while police prevented press and outsiders from entering the airport.

The passengers included 11 unaccompanied minors, according to Paris prosecutors.

The Indian embassy in Paris posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday that it was grateful for the “quick resolution” of the incident.

The 30 crew members were not detained. Some had handled the Dubai-Vatry leg while others were to take over for the flight to Nicaragua.

‘Mutual benefit’

The use of charter flights to aid migrants “is a relatively new phenomenon”, Manuel Orozco, director of migration issues at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue, told AFP last month.

Orozco said he believed that airline operators and Nicaraguan airport authorities made “an economic calculation” for their “mutual benefit”.

Indian deputy foreign minister V. Muraleedharan this month told parliament that close to 100,000 illegal Indian migrants had attempted to enter the United States this year, citing US Customs and Border Protection data.

Last year the issue caught public attention when four Indians froze to death while trying to cross into the United States on foot from the Canadian border.

They were among a group of 11 people attempting the journey, with the remaining seven detained by US authorities.

Many Indian migrants seek passage to the United States for economic reasons.

But human rights experts say there are several other factors at play, including the oppression of minority communities in India and extreme visa backlogs.

Unlawful Indian migration abroad is such an established phenomenon that it forms the backdrop of the Bollywood comedy-drama “Dunki”, released in cinemas last week.

Starring Shah Rukh Khan, one of India’s most bankable film stars, “Dunki” delves into the various means by which Indians attempt the perilous journey to the West with the help of unscrupulous agents and corrupt border officials.

Headline

US To Revoke Student Visas For Those Who Skip Classes, Programmes

Published

9 hours ago

August 4, 2025

Editor

The United States has issued a warning to international students regarding the consequences of violating student visa regulations.

In a message shared via its official X handle on Monday, the US Mission in Nigeria stressed that students who drop out, skip classes, or leave their academic programmes without notifying their schools risk having their US student visas revoked.

Such actions could also lead to disqualification from obtaining future US visas, it stated.

The mission advised all student visa holders to strictly adhere to the terms of their visas and maintain their academic status to avoid any immigration issues.

“If you drop out, skip classes, or leave your programmes of study without informing your school, your student visa may be revoked, and you may lose eligibility for future US visas.

“Always adhere to the terms of your visa and maintain your student status to avoid any issues,” the mission noted.

Headline

Fake Labubu Dolls Worth Millions Seized In London Raid Amid Growing Safety Fears

Published

2 days ago

August 3, 2025

Editor

Thousands of fake Labubu dolls believed to be worth millions of pounds have been seized at an industrial estate on the outskirts of London following a major crackdown led by Trading Standards and law enforcement agencies.

The operation, which followed weeks of investigation, traced the fake merchandise from a corner shop in Swansea, south Wales, to a warehouse complex in London.

Officers discovered rooms stacked floor-to-ceiling with fake goods, but it was the imitation Labubu dolls at the centre of a viral TikTok craze that drew the most concern.

The dolls, produced by popular toy company Pop Mart, have surged in global demand, with some genuine pieces retailing for up to £80. The popularity of the brand helped the company double its revenue to £1.33 billion last year, according to Forbes. However, authorities say the boom has also attracted criminal enterprises looking to profit from the trend through counterfeit production.

“The head comes off. The feet pull off. The eyes aren’t glued in,” said Rhys Harries, a Trading Standards officer, while examining one of the seized dolls. “These are clear choking hazards.”

Using a plastic tool modelled after a child’s throat, Harries demonstrated how easily parts of the fake dolls could become life-threatening. “These parts would get stuck and potentially cause choking,” he warned.

The scale of the operation was alarming. Border Force officials say they have intercepted hundreds of thousands of fake Labubu dolls at UK ports in recent months, with many traced back to manufacturers in China, Hong Kong, and Turkey.

In one case, a mother from Caerphilly, Jade, recounted how fake Labubu dolls she bought for her six-year-old son Harri’s birthday began falling apart within hours. “The hook came off and ended up in his mouth,” she said. “Luckily he was old enough to spit it out and tell me.”

Despite knowing the dolls were fakes, Jade said she bought them due to the high cost of the original ones and peer pressure from other children. She got the knock-offs for just over £10 each.

Authorities say the rush to cash in on the craze has led to the use of substandard and potentially dangerous materials, including toxic plastics. Kate Caffery, deputy director of intelligence and law enforcement at the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, said counterfeiting is the second most lucrative source of criminal income worldwide, after drug trafficking.

“There’s a complete disregard for safety,” Caffery said. “They’re made from anything from the inferior to the outright dangerous.”

TikTok collector and plush toy enthusiast Meg Goldberger, 27, said she struggled to find genuine dolls due to scalpers bulk-buying authentic stock and reselling them at inflated prices. “They sell out in seconds,” she said. “Some resellers are using bots to buy hundreds at once.”

Investigators found invoice books showing the dolls were destined for locations across the UK. Some of the seized dolls will be used as evidence, while the rest will be stored in a secure location before being recycled or destroyed.

Pop Mart has been contacted for comment on the counterfeit issue, which authorities say is now a national concern.

Headline

Young Catholics Converge On Rome For Pope Leo’s Vigil

Published

2 days ago

August 2, 2025

Editor

Thousands of young Catholics began assembling Saturday for an evening prayer vigil led by Pope Leo XIV, the culmination of a week-long pilgrimage and a key event in the Jubilee holy year that is expected to draw up to a million people.

The “Jubilee of Youth” — when the Vatican invites Catholics aged 18 to 35 to the seat of the global Church’s power — has seen young pilgrims from around the world flood Rome, waving flags, singing or praying in groups.

It comes nearly three months after Leo, 69, the first American pontiff, began his papacy, and 25 years after the last such massive youth gathering in Rome under Poland’s Pope John Paul II.

On Saturday morning, thousands of young pilgrims had already gathered at the vast open space in Rome’s eastern Tor Vergata neighbourhood where the pope will lead the vigil, the ground already dotted with blankets and mattresses.

Elsewhere in the Eternal City, numerous groups of young people were seen preparing to set off for the venue.

On the plaza outside the Basilica of St John Lateran, they filled water bottles, applied suncream and checked bags of food and snacks — ready to spend the next 24 hours surrounded by a swarm of people and then sleep under the stars.

Victoria Perez, who carried a Spanish flag, could not contain her excitement at seeing “the Pope up close.

“It’s the first time I’m going to see him, and I can’t wait,” the 21-year-old told AFP, excited to experience the “night of prayers under the stars”.

French pilgrim, Quentin Remaury, 26, said he had been inspired by the late Pope Francis’s rousing message to youth during a 2016 visit to Krakow, Poland.

“Pope Francis told us to ‘get off your couches,’ and that really gave me a boost,” he said.

– ‘What is his message?’ –

Since the youth jubilee began on Monday, attendees have participated in various Church-planned events throughout the city.

On Friday, approximately 1,000 priests were on hand to take confession at Circus Maximus, one of Rome’s top tourist spots.

Some 200 white gazebos lined the hippodrome where chariot races were once held, and youths lined up to speak to priests in 10 different languages.

Of the many languages heard on the streets of the Italian capital this week, Spanish seemed to dominate. The Vatican has said that more than 146 countries were represented, and it expects up to a million people to attend the vigil.

The pilgrimage is taking place as economic uncertainty and anxiety over climate change rise among the under-30s, with many saying they were curious to hear the Church’s position on global warming, wars and economic inequalities.

Samarei Semos, 29, said she had travelled three days from her native Belize to get to Rome.

“We are still trying to understand his leadership,” she said of the new pope, adding she hoped he would have a strong say about “third world countries”.

As Parisian student Alice Berry exclaimed, “What does he have to say to us? What is his message for young people?”

– Raising voices –

The youth pilgrimage also comes amid global alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and more than three years of war in Ukraine.

The Vatican has praised young Catholics who managed to travel to Rome from war-scarred countries, with Pope Leo saying the voices of the world’s youth “will be heard to the end of the earth”.

In an unprecedented move, Leo hosted a mass on Tuesday for Catholic social media influencers, signalling the Vatican’s openness to supporting the Internet-savvy youth.

More than 4,300 volunteers will be working the event to welcome the young pilgrims, along with over 1,000 police, according to organisers.

Roman authorities have tightened security in the city — which has seen an unprecedented number of people, with both tourists and pilgrims inundating the city.

AFP