Sep 20, 2020 – Almost a year ago in October 2019, the world was shocked by a tragedy called the “Essex lorry deaths” which involved 39 people who were found dead in a refrigerated trailer in Britain.
While the victims were initially identified as Chinese, it has since been ascertained that all of the victims were in fact, Vietnamese, and almost all from the same – considered poor – province of Nghe An.
The desire for status afforded by material possessions… drives many Vietnamese people looking for a better quality of life to take risks with labour brokers who are deceitful and may be traffickers, resulting in victims owing huge debts.
A 2019 report titled, “Precarious journeys: Mapping vulnerabilities of victims of trafficking from Vietnam to Europe” funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Home Office, and conducted by Anti-Slavery International, Every Child Against Trafficking UK (ECPAT UK) and the Pacific Links Foundation – highlights the fact that among these Vietnamese trafficking victims are many children who get caught in the mess as well.
According to the report, over a period of one and a half years, researchers investigated the issue of human trafficking from Vietnam to the UK and throughout Europe, specifically in Poland, the Czech Republic, France and the Netherlands. The National Referral Mechanism, which identifies and protects victims, revealed that more than 3,100 Vietnamese adults and children were identified as victims of trafficking.
