https://www.scmp.com/rss/502673/feed Thirty nine migrants, 31 men and eight women, were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex, Britain on October 23, 2019. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A French court on Friday handed down jail sentences of up to 10 years in a people smuggling trial over the death of 39 Vietnamese migrants in a refrigerated container on the way to Britain. The bodies of the migrants who suffocated to death – two of whom were just 15 years old – were discovered inside the sealed unit at a port near London in October 2019. They had travelled in the lorry from northern France to Belgium before crossing the Channel to Britain. Two ringleaders of the operation – one... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3241164/french-court-convicts-vietnamese-lorry-tragedy-suspects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3241164/french-court-convicts-vietnamese-lorry-tragedy-suspects?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Nov 2023 20:31:48 +0000 A Romanian man who was part of a people-smuggling gang responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants in the UK was jailed for nearly 13 years on Tuesday. Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, received a sentence of 12 years and seven months, after pleading guilty last month to 39 counts of manslaughter and one of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. The migrants, aged between 15 and 44, suffocated in scorching temperatures in an articulated trailer brought to Britain from Belgium in October... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3227362/romanian-people-smuggler-jailed-uk-vietnamese-migrant-deaths?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3227362/romanian-people-smuggler-jailed-uk-vietnamese-migrant-deaths?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jul 2023 17:23:34 +0000 An attacker threw firebombs an immigration centre in the English port town of Dover on Sunday before killing himself, officials said. Two other people were lightly injured in the attack and over 700 migrants had to be relocated. The Kent Police force said “two to three incendiary devices” were thrown at the facility where recently arrived migrants are taken, and two people received “minor injuries”. A news photographer at the scene said a man drove up and threw three petrol bombs at the facility... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3197795/man-hurls-firebombs-uk-immigration-centre-dover-killing-himself?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3197795/man-hurls-firebombs-uk-immigration-centre-dover-killing-himself?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Oct 2022 17:42:03 +0000 A people-smuggler who fled Britain after 39 Vietnamese nationals were found dead in the back of a truck has been jailed for nearly four years. Dragos Stefan Damian, 28, was extradited from Italy to face a British court following the investigation into the deaths of the men, women and children. Their bodies were found in a truck trailer after it was transported by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet in the English county of Essex, early on October 23, 2019. Damian admitted he had been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3171333/people-smuggler-jailed-nearly-four-years-over-2019-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3171333/people-smuggler-jailed-nearly-four-years-over-2019-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Mar 2022 19:50:34 +0000 Two years after 39 Vietnamese migrants died aboard a truck that travelled to Britain, Belgium on Wednesday opened the trial of 23 people suspected of involvement in the human-smuggling ring responsible. The proceedings, in a courtroom in the city of Bruges, follow convictions handed down in the UK in January to seven men, several for manslaughter. They were given prison sentences ranging from three years to 27 years. In Vietnam, in September last year, four men were sent to prison in connection... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3159855/belgium-trial-starts-over-death-39-vietnamese-migrants-uk-truck?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3159855/belgium-trial-starts-over-death-39-vietnamese-migrants-uk-truck?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Dec 2021 13:14:44 +0000 Spanish police have dismantled a smuggling ring suspected of bringing hundreds of Pakistani migrants into the European Union overland in “life-threatening conditions”, officials said on Thursday. The smuggling group took Pakistanis from camps in Bosnia to Italy or Spain, said a statement from Europol, which was involved in the Spanish operation. “Transported in life-threatening conditions in cars, vans or trucks, they often spend days confined with little or no supplies,” the European Union law... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3154917/spain-breaks-gang-smuggling-pakistani-migrants-trucks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3154917/spain-breaks-gang-smuggling-pakistani-migrants-trucks?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Nov 2021 15:37:40 +0000 In 2019, I wrote about 39 Vietnamese migrants who were discovered dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex. While it was one of the most high-profile cases of people smuggling uncovered in Britain, throughout the years many more Vietnamese people have died making the journey. Four men have since been jailed for manslaughter, and authorities have cracked down on road routes. But many are desperate to build a new life, and traffickers are quick to adapt. In recent months, there have been reports of... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3147325/britains-plan-punish-migrants-shows-it-learned-nothing-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3147325/britains-plan-punish-migrants-shows-it-learned-nothing-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Sep 2021 07:00:26 +0000 A Vietnamese teenager accused of being a key “organiser” in the fatal people-smuggling operation which saw 39 migrants suffocate in the back of a container on its way to Essex has lost his appeal against extradition. Ngo Sy Tai, also known as Hung Sy Truong, is wanted in Belgium over allegations he ran a so-called “safe house” for his fellow Vietnamese nationals in Anderlecht, Brussels. Joel Smith, representing Ngo, appealed against extradition and cited a lack of detail in the charges against... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3128857/vietnamese-teenager-be-extradited-uk-belgium-over-essex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3128857/vietnamese-teenager-be-extradited-uk-belgium-over-essex?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Apr 2021 02:35:03 +0000 Four men were given lengthy jail terms on Friday for the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese men, women and children who suffocated to death in a stifling, airtight shipping container in 2019 as they tried to make their way to Britain. The discovery of so many dead people – some as young as 15 – in the back of the truck on an industrial estate to the east of London shocked Britain and Vietnam, and shone a spotlight on the illicit global trade that sends the poor of Asia, Africa and the Middle East on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3118925/four-people-smugglers-jailed-decades-over-deaths-39-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3118925/four-people-smugglers-jailed-decades-over-deaths-39-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Jan 2021 16:10:14 +0000 The father of one of the 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a truck in Britain said on Tuesday he felt sorry for the two men convicted of manslaughter over the deaths. The bodies of the migrants were found inside a sealed container near London in October 2019, after they suffocated in sweltering temperatures. Truck driver Eamonn Harrison, 24, from Northern Ireland, and Romanian national Gheorghe Nica, 43, were found guilty of 39 counts of manslaughter, as well as people smuggling, by a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3114996/uk-truck-deaths-vietnamese-victims-families-have-mixed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3114996/uk-truck-deaths-vietnamese-victims-families-have-mixed?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Dec 2020 11:53:40 +0000 Two men were found guilty in Britain on Monday of the manslaughter of 39 men, women and children from Vietnam after they were found suffocated to death in the back of a refrigerated truck near London last year. The discovery of so many dead people – some as young as 15 – shocked Britain and Vietnam, and shone a spotlight on the illicit global trade that sends the poor of Asia, Africa and the Middle East on perilous journeys to the West. As oxygen levels fell in the back of the truck, some tried... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3114848/vietnamese-truck-deaths-two-found-guilty-manslaughter-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3114848/vietnamese-truck-deaths-two-found-guilty-manslaughter-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Dec 2020 14:47:40 +0000 Two members of an alleged people-smuggling gang stood trial on Wednesday accused of being responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese men, women and boys found suffocated in a stifling, airtight shipping container near London last year. The victims, nine of whom were teenagers and two aged just 15, were discovered last October in a container at the back of a truck on an industrial estate in Grays, about 32km (20 miles) east of the British capital – a shocking incident that shone a light on... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3104597/four-men-trial-over-death-39-vietnamese-migrants-british-truck?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3104597/four-men-trial-over-death-39-vietnamese-migrants-british-truck?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Oct 2020 15:51:48 +0000 Vietnam has jailed four people over their roles in the deaths of 39 migrants found in a refrigerated truck in Britain last year, state media said on Tuesday. The deaths of the 31 men and eight women from Vietnam, who were found in a vehicle near London in October 2019, highlighted the enormous risks of illegal migration to Europe and sparked an international outcry. The four defendants – the youngest aged 26 and the oldest 36 – were given prison sentences of between two-and-a-half years and... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3101603/vietnam-jails-four-over-their-role-uk-truck-deaths?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3101603/vietnam-jails-four-over-their-role-uk-truck-deaths?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Sep 2020 07:18:26 +0000 A 40-year-old Irish haulier pleaded guilty on Friday to the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese men, women and boys found dead in the back of a refrigerated truck near London last year. Ronan Hughes became the second man to plead guilty over a case that shocked Britain and Vietnam and shone a light on the illicit human smuggling trade. The other is Maurice Robinson, from the British region of Northern Ireland, who was driving the truck when the bodies were found. Appearing at a full Old Bailey... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3099360/second-truck-driver-pleads-guilty-over-deaths-39-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3099360/second-truck-driver-pleads-guilty-over-deaths-39-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Aug 2020 16:36:36 +0000 Police in Belgium and France on Wednesday announced the arrests of 26 people suspected of human trafficking in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found in a refrigerated truck in Britain last year. Judicial authorities said a series of early morning raids took place simultaneously in Belgium and France on Tuesday as part of two legal investigations. One inquiry was launched following the investigation into the deaths of the 39 migrants found in October inside a truck’s refrigerated... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3086397/vietnamese-truck-deaths-dozens-arrested-belgium-and-france?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3086397/vietnamese-truck-deaths-dozens-arrested-belgium-and-france?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 May 2020 14:46:34 +0000 A British truck driver on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 39 people found dead in a refrigerated truck in southeast England. Northern Ireland man Maurice Robinson, 25, was arrested soon after the bodies of 31 men and eight women from Vietnam were discovered in the truck in an industrial zone in Grays, east of London, in October. The truck arrived on a ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge in the early hours of October 23, carrying the victims, who included two 15-year-old... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3079068/uk-truck-driver-pleads-guilty-deaths-39-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3079068/uk-truck-driver-pleads-guilty-deaths-39-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2020 15:59:11 +0000 The 39 Vietnamese migrants found in the back of a truck in Britain last year died of lack of oxygen and overheating, police said on Tuesday, citing provisional autopsy results. The victims were found dead in a refrigerated trailer in the county of Essex, east of London, on October 23 last year after having been transported by ferry from Belgium. “All postmortem examinations have now been completed and we await the final reports for all 39 victims,” Essex police said in a statement. “The... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3050097/vietnamese-truck-victims-died-lack-oxygen-and-overheating?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3050097/vietnamese-truck-victims-died-lack-oxygen-and-overheating?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Feb 2020 19:48:18 +0000 Nguyen, who was born in a rural, mountainous area in the North of Vietnam, could barely string together complex sentences when his life took a sudden turn. He was only about four years old when his father fell sick and the family had to borrow money to cover the hospital expenses – but they could not avoid his death. “I remember my mum and I working for some people to pay off the debt. One day, we were taken on a motorbike to a very faraway place,” he recalls. “It was in a very remote... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3041020/they-stole-my-mothers-organs-vietnamese-human-trafficking-victim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3041020/they-stole-my-mothers-organs-vietnamese-human-trafficking-victim?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:00:12 +0000 The final remains of the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain last month arrived in Vietnam on Saturday, the foreign ministry said, returning them to bereft families after weeks of waiting. The victims were among the 31 men and eight women discovered in a refrigerated truck in Essex, east of London, on October 23 – all Vietnamese nationals who were illegal migrant workers. The first 16 bodies were returned on Wednesday, with tearful relatives mobbing ambulances when they arrived in their... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3040055/all-39-bodies-uk-truck-victims-have-now-arrived-back-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3040055/all-39-bodies-uk-truck-victims-have-now-arrived-back-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Nov 2019 11:16:59 +0000 A British truck driver charged with the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese nationals found dead in a truck near London last month pleaded guilty on Monday to plotting to assist unlawful immigration and to acquiring criminal property. Appearing in court by video link from Belmarsh Prison in east London, Maurice Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland, was not asked to enter a plea to 41 other charges, including 39 counts of manslaughter. No trial date was set and Robinson is next due in court on December... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3039295/uk-truck-deaths-british-driver-pleads-guilty-two-offences-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3039295/uk-truck-deaths-british-driver-pleads-guilty-two-offences-after?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Nov 2019 12:41:07 +0000 One of the 39 Vietnamese victims found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain last month is a minor who disappeared from a Dutch asylum shelter previously, a newspaper report said on Saturday. The boy, whose name and age was not released, was among the bodies found near the southeast English port of Purfleet on October 23, the Algemeen Dagblad daily reported. “The teenage boy absconded from an extra-secure facility for vulnerable asylum seekers,” the paper said, quoting a source at the COA, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3039066/teen-vietnamese-uk-truck-victim-had-escaped-dutch-migrant-centre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3039066/teen-vietnamese-uk-truck-victim-had-escaped-dutch-migrant-centre?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Nov 2019 10:51:07 +0000 Ten teenagers were among the 39 Vietnamese found dead in a truck container in southeast England last month, local police said on Friday while relaying for the first time details of those who died. The scope of the tragedy became clear as police released the names and ages of those who died in one of Britain’s worst incidents of people smuggling. Two of the dead were only 15, while the oldest was 44. Some 20 of the victims came from one province – Nghe An in north central Vietnam, around 200... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3037004/british-police-reveal-10-teens-among-39-vietnamese-found-dead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3037004/british-police-reveal-10-teens-among-39-vietnamese-found-dead?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Nov 2019 15:30:06 +0000 Police in Vietnam have arrested eight people in relation to the discovery of 39 bodies in a truck near London last month, state media said on Monday. “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,” said Nghe An province police chief Nguyen Huu Cau, according to the official Vietnam News Agency. On Friday, Vietnamese police arrested two people and summoned others for questioning on... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036256/vietnam-arrests-eight-connection-uk-truck-deaths?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036256/vietnam-arrests-eight-connection-uk-truck-deaths?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2019 10:01:10 +0000 British police said on Friday they now believe all 39 people found dead in the back of a truck in Essex near London last week were Vietnamese. “At this time, we believe the victims are Vietnamese nationals, and we are in contact with the Vietnamese government,” Essex police Assistant Chief Constable Tim Smith said on Twitter. “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,” he added. The victims were... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036016/all-39-truck-death-victims-were-vietnamese-british-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3036016/all-39-truck-death-victims-were-vietnamese-british-police?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Nov 2019 20:32:24 +0000 British police, investigating the deaths of 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London last week, made a direct appeal on Friday to two brothers from Northern Ireland to hand themselves in to detectives. Police said Ronan Hughes and his brother Christopher are crucial to their inquiries into the discovery of the bodies of 31 men and eight women in the container on an industrial estate in Grays, Essex. The brothers are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3035991/northern-irish-brothers-told-hand-themselves-over-essex-truck?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3035991/northern-irish-brothers-told-hand-themselves-over-essex-truck?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:00:16 +0000 Three Vietnamese nationals have been arrested for attempting to smuggle people to the United States, and a fourth has been jailed for trying to smuggle people to Taiwan, state media said on Thursday. Police in the central Vietnamese city of Hue detained two men and one woman on suspicion of people smuggling. Nguyen Khac Trong and Nguyen Van Chuong, 32, and Bui Thi Thu Hong, 34, will be investigated for “organising or coercing other persons to flee abroad or to stay abroad illegally”, and face a... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3035851/vietnam-makes-arrests-it-cracks-down-people-smuggling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3035851/vietnam-makes-arrests-it-cracks-down-people-smuggling?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Nov 2019 03:50:19 +0000 They borrowed thousands of dollars to fund their children’s illegal trips to Europe, and now the Vietnamese parents of missing migrants feared dead in Britain have no idea how to pay off the crippling loans. Their children planned to send back money after getting hoped-for jobs in the UK, where 39 people were found dead in a truck last week. The driver has been charged, and British police said on Tuesday they were looking for two more suspects believed to be connected to the case. Families in... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3035445/uk-truck-deaths-families-missing-vietnamese-migrants-stuck?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3035445/uk-truck-deaths-families-missing-vietnamese-migrants-stuck?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2019 23:30:16 +0000 The discovery of the frozen bodies of 39 trafficked migrants in a refrigerated truck in an industrial park on the Thames Estuary last week has shone the spotlight on a rise in the number of people being trafficked to the UK from China and Vietnam. Vietnamese featured in more of the modern slavery cases referred to Britain’s National Crime Agency in 2018 than any other nationality bar British and Albanians, with 702 cases. At the same time, the number of Chinese victims soared by 50 per cent with... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3035316/truck-deaths-why-are-so-many-chinese-and-vietnamese-being-trafficked-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/article/3035316/truck-deaths-why-are-so-many-chinese-and-vietnamese-being-trafficked-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2019 06:35:41 +0000 Britain has sent documents to Vietnam to help identify some of the 39 people found dead in a truck near London, Hanoi said on Monday, as fears mount that most of the dead were Vietnamese. The eight women and 31 men found on Wednesday in a refrigerated container in Essex, southeast England, were originally identified as Chinese. In Vietnam, families contemplate perilous journey of suspected Essex truck victims But several Vietnamese families have come forward saying they fear their relatives are... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3035207/vietnam-receives-documents-uk-help-identify-suspected?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3035207/vietnam-receives-documents-uk-help-identify-suspected?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2019 09:57:26 +0000 Vietnamese dad Nguyen Dinh Gia is certain his son Luong was among the 39 migrants found dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex, England, on October 23. Although authorities in Britain have not yet released the victims’ identities, Gia said he received an anonymous phone call with the terrible news on Thursday night from someone who was aware of the truck’s progress. “It is my suspicion that after seeing the bodies of all the people, with no one left alive, he called me,” said Gia, a 57-year-old... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034777/i-am-sure-he-dead-vietnam-families-contemplate-perilous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034777/i-am-sure-he-dead-vietnam-families-contemplate-perilous?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Oct 2019 13:15:12 +0000 British police investigating the deaths of 39 people in a refrigerated truck said on Saturday they had charged a driver arrested at the scene with manslaughter and people trafficking. Maurice Robinson, 25, from Northern Ireland, faces “39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering”, police said. Robinson was arrested soon after the bodies were discovered in the truck at Purfleet on the River Thames estuary, after arriving... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3034722/driver-charged-over-essex-truck-deaths-uk-police-ask-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3034722/driver-charged-over-essex-truck-deaths-uk-police-ask-vietnamese?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Oct 2019 16:44:47 +0000 The majority of the 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London were likely from Vietnam, a community leader from the rural, rice-growing community, where many of the victims are believed to have come from said on Saturday. The discovery of the bodies – 38 adults and one teenager – was made on Wednesday after emergency services were alerted to people in a truck container on an industrial site in Grays, Essex. Police have said they believe the dead were Chinese but Beijing said the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034708/majority-essex-truck-death-victims-likely-vietnam-priest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034708/majority-essex-truck-death-victims-likely-vietnam-priest?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Oct 2019 11:53:42 +0000 Distraught Vietnamese families were seeking information about their missing loved ones last night amid growing fears that some of the 39 people who died in a refrigerated truck in Essex were from the country. Pham Thi Tra My, 26, sent a text message to her mother saying she could not breathe at about the time the truck was en route from Belgium to Britain, said Hoa Nghiem from Human Rights Space, a civic network based in Vietnam. “It was told on the news that all 39 people were Chinese but Tra... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034667/vietnamese-woman-feared-be-among-uk-truck-victims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3034667/vietnamese-woman-feared-be-among-uk-truck-victims?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Oct 2019 15:52:17 +0000 The deaths of 39 people in a refrigerated truck in the UK have sparked heated discussion in China about the arduous, sometimes ill-fated journeys taken by migrants seeking a better life.  The British police said the victims, 31 men and eight women, were believed to be Chinese nationals. The Chinese embassy in London said their origins had not been confirmed.  The suggestion from the British authorities that the victims could be illegal migrants risking their lives to be in the UK left many... https://www.scmp.com/society/essex-lorry-deaths-spark-online-debates-about-illegal-migration-china/article/3034550?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/essex-lorry-deaths-spark-online-debates-about-illegal-migration-china/article/3034550?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Oct 2019 11:38:29 +0000 The 39 Chinese nationals found dead in a refrigerated truck in eastern England were trapped for at least 10 hours in a container with the temperature set to as low as -25 degrees Celsius (-13 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Belgian authorities. The trailer arrived at Zeebrugge port in Belgium at 2.49pm en route to Britain and would not have been interfered with after, The Guardian reported, citing the port’s chief executive Joachim Coens. “A refrigerated container in the port zone is... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3034421/all-39-uk-truck-death-victims-were-chinese-nationals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3034421/all-39-uk-truck-death-victims-were-chinese-nationals?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Oct 2019 09:49:53 +0000 The discovery of 39 people dead Chinese in the back of a truck in Essex has renewed focus on the risks taken by undocumented migrants to travel to the UK to seek safety and shelter. A lack of safe and legal routes into the UK is in part driving a dependence on life-threatening methods including squeezing into the back of refrigerated lorries or riding in vulnerable dinghies across wild seas. People fleeing the threat of torture, rape or death cannot claim asylum in the UK without physically... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3034334/essex-truck-horror-highlights-risks-desperate-migrants-take-reach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3034334/essex-truck-horror-highlights-risks-desperate-migrants-take-reach?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Oct 2019 03:37:22 +0000 British police found the bodies of 39 people inside a truck container believed to have come from Bulgaria at an industrial estate to the east of London on Wednesday. The discovery of the bodies – 38 adults and one teenager – was made in the early hours after emergency services were alerted to people in the container at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays, not far from docks on the River Thames. In Britain’s biggest human trafficking tragedy in 2000, British customs officials found the bodies of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3034231/39-bodies-found-truck-container-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3034231/39-bodies-found-truck-container-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Oct 2019 09:05:17 +0000