Vietnam jails four persons over Britain truck tragedy
15 September, 2020
Vietnam has jailed a number of persons over their roles found in the death of 39 migrants within a refrigerated truck found in Britain this past year, state media said.
The deaths of the 31 men and eight women from Vietnam, who were within a car near London in October 2019, highlighted the enormous risks of against the law migration to European countries and sparked an international outcry.
The four defendants - the youngest aged 26 and the oldest 36 - received prison sentences of between two and a half years and seven . 5 years by a courtroom in central Ha Tinh province on Monday (Sep 14), in line with the official provincial newspaper.
These were found guilty of "organising, brokering against the law emigration", it said, adding that three others had received suspended sentences.
But Nguyen Dinh Gia, who lost his 20-year-old child Luong in the tragedy, told AFP he believed the defendants should not have already been given jail terms.
"The persons involved were just trying to help and the car accident happened," he said.
"He was a grown-up who made his private decision and became a member of the trip voluntarily, with desire to to improve his life, earning money to ease our poverty."
Gia said his boy had wanted to happen to be Britain from France, where he previously been living illegally since 2018.
The journey to Britain, where he aimed to look for work in a nail salon, could have cost him around 11,000 pounds ($14,000).
"It has been almost a time but whenever I believe about this, it's nonetheless painful," Gia said.
Luong and a lot of the different migrants came from a small number of poor central provinces, hotspots for against the law migration to Europe.
The lorry carrying the victims - including two 15-year-old boys - arrived on a ferry from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge in the early hours of October 23.
They died from lack of oxygen and overheating, according to post-mortem examinations.
A number of people have already been arrested and charged in Britain, France and Belgium regarding the the case, like the driver of the lorry, Maurice Robinson, of Northern Ireland, who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Ronan Hughes, 40, from County Armagh found in Northern Ireland, also pleaded guilty to manslaughter previous month.
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