Feb 2, 2021 – “I’m sorry, mother. My journey has failed. I’m dying, I can’t breathe.”
Pham Thi Tra My was one of 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a container truck in Essex, southeast England, in October 2019. All had died through lack of oxygen while hiding in the trailer in an attempt to illegally enter the country for work. A UK court found seven people guilty of smuggling and manslaughter on January 22.
If I knew that there would be just one percent of risk in her journey, I would have stopped her.
Pacific Links Foundation, a US human rights group based in Vietnam, characterizes the smuggling trade as a cat-and-mouse game, with brokers constantly looking for new routes as European governments implement countermeasures. As of now, the brokers seem to have the upper-hand. According to United Nations data, approximately 18,000 Vietnamese people are smuggled into European countries every year.
Pacific Links is also worried about a “post-coronavirus outbreak.” Many people in Vietnam have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and the foundation says they will be easily enticed by smugglers once freedom of movement is restored.
“The incident in Essex shocked the world,” says Pacific Links co-founder Diep N Vuong. “But there was really no big discussion about alternatives. The Vietnamese government is cracking down on brokers, but without a stricter attitude, the dangers of smuggling and human trafficking will never disappear.”
