Vietnamese Government initiates swift action vows to punish and dismantle human trafficking
ESSEX, Nov 4: The lorry that was found in Essex which had 39 people dead in its container was identified as Vietnamese nationals. There were 31 men and eight women.
It was incorrectly reported to be of Chinese descent, the information that was received in the initial investigation.
The government of Vietnam has taken swift action beginning to arrest the accused and suspects involved in this magnanimous chain of human trafficking.
8 people were arrested on Monday in connection with this case. It takes the total up to 10.
The Government of Vietnam had also informed the next of kin and family members of the deceased that froze to death inside the container. They died while being trafficked through China, Belgium and finally to the United Kingdom.
The Government of Vietnam had condemned the incident, and on the 26th of October, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc directed a thorough investigation into the case of rapid human trafficking in Vietnam.
The victims are known to be from the Nghe An province, a financially poor area with weak prospects of employment and rampant poverty.
Province police chief Nguyen Huu Cau stated that ” based on what we learn from the suspects, we will actively launch investigations to fight and eradicate these rings which bring people illegally to Britain. The best thing to do now is to deal with the consequences of the incident and help family members receive the bodies”.
The Vietnamese Embassy in London is working alongside the investigating team in the United Kingdom in order to identify the people and their families back in Vietnam.
On Friday releasing a statement Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith of Essex Police said “at this time, we believe the victims are Vietnamese nationals, and we are in contact with the Vietnamese Government. We are in direct contact with a number of families in Vietnam and the UK, and we believe we have identified families for some of the victims whose journey ended in tragedy in our shores. This evidence is being gathered across a number of jurisdictions worldwide. As a result, we cannot at this time announce the identity of any of the victims”.
Two brothers who are wanted in this case are absconding. The Essex police are in the lookout for Ronan and Christopher Hughes, although they may not be directly related to the crime they are being sought for information that they are guaranteed to have regarding this incident. The brothers reportedly have a logistics business in Armagh County.
( With inputs from The Guardian and Telegraph, written by Birat Krishna Thapa, File Photo)