Two Iraqis, six Afghans, and one Sudanese national are facing varying charges, notably involuntary manslaughter and criminal conspiracy for illegal immigration.

A tenth man from Sudan was a minor at the time of the tragedy and is being referred to a juvenile court.

Eight of the accused, aged 23 to 45, appeared in court on Tuesday wearing headphones to follow a translation of the proceedings, which opened with the names of the 65 people aboard the overloaded boat.

The ninth is still subject to an arrest warrant and was absent from the courtroom.

The trial will determine the individual degrees of responsibility of the defendants for the death of seven people as they crossed the busy shipping lane in a small boat.

The passengers, all of them Afghan, were not wearing life jackets.

Six bodies were recovered from the water, while another was later found on a beach in the Netherlands. The survivors were rescued by French and British maritime services.

The trial will also examine the smuggling networks behind the perilous crossings that are at the heart of regular tensions between Paris and London.

Britain has signed agreements with France and other nations aimed at tackling the surge in recent years of irregular migration to the country, including targeting the smuggling gangs.

The investigation into the 2023 incident revealed "an organised and structured system" for irregular migration to Britain operating in France and Germany, according to the investigative judges' order referring the case to the criminal court.

With the coordination of several European countries, investigators uncovered a network "led by the Iraqi-Kurdish community" based in Germany, which handled logistics, while an "Afghan branch" was responsible for recruiting migrants.

France has tried similar cases as the crossings persist, despite the dangers and authorities' deterrents.

In June, a court in the northern city of Lille sentenced seven Afghans and two Iraqi Kurds to seven to eight years in prison after a boat transporting migrants from France to Britain capsized in 2022, killing eight people.

No one has been tried in the deadliest recent tragedy on the migration route across the Channel in 2021 that killed 27 people.

The trial starting Tuesday is expected to last until November 18.