A mother has been denied a final farewell after French authorities held her son's body for five months. Jasmeet Wadhwa, 32, died while crossing the Channel on 1 April, his family says, and his remains have not been returned to relatives seeking to bury him.
Jasmeet and his mother, Harbans Kaur Wadhwa, fled Taliban persecution in Afghanistan and spent about two months under the control of people smugglers before reaching northern France in mid-March. Harbans Kaur survived the dinghy crossing and has since sought legal entry to the United Kingdom. A second man on the same boat, Nagmeldin Adam, 33, from Sudan, also died. Eight other people were rescued in the same incident.
Relatives of Jasmeet and Nagmeldin travelled to Dunkirk and demonstrated outside the local courthouse on Monday, an uncommon public protest given how many people who die on Channel crossings are never identified. Ivnit Singh Wadwa, Jasmeet’s cousin who came from west London for the demonstration, said, "We shouldn’t have to fight to say goodbye." The family also posted a public appeal on social media, writing, "A son. A brother. A life not forgotten. Help us bring Jasmeet back to his family. This is not about politics. It’s about a grieving mother being able to see her son one final time, it’s about a family being able to mourn."
The family says French authorities have refused to release the remains and have not explained the delay. Neither the French interior ministry nor the police unit responsible for recovered bodies answered queries about the case, and the relatives say they remain in legal and emotional limbo as they press for a formal release so funerary arrangements can proceed.
Harbans Kaur applied to the UK Home Office to come to Britain under the "one in, one out" scheme, which swaps one person returned to France for another accepted from northern France. The Home Office rejected the application, saying the identity document supplied was not satisfactory. The family notes Afghans commonly hold a Tazkira identity document. The Home Office was approached for comment.
The protest and the unresolved hold on the bodies come amid a rising death toll on the Channel. At least 16 people have died attempting to cross from France to the UK so far this year, and a new fatality was reported on Saturday in the same stretch of coast where the April incident occurred. With no explanation from French authorities, the family continues to press for clarity and the return of Jasmeet’s remains so mourning can begin.
