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NGHE AN, Vietnam: Le Minh Tuan has curled up in her deceased son’s bed every night since the young man suffocated in a truck in Britain alongside dozens of other Vietnamese immigrants a year ago.
Four men are on trial in London for the deaths of the 39 Vietnamese men and women, facing multiple charges including manslaughter and conspiracy to smuggle people.
But Tuan, like many of their grieving families, does not hold them responsible for the terrible tragedy.
“I don’t blame anyone,” he told AFP at his ramshackle house in central Nghe An province, sobbing as he spoke.
“I wish I could go to the UK to attend the trial and burn incense at the place where my son was found dead.”
Le Minh Tuan, the father of one of 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain last year, says he does not blame human traffickers for the death of his son. (Photo: AFP / Nhac NGUYEN)
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His 30-year-old son, Le Van Ha, had paid smugglers to move from Vietnam to Europe, weaving from Turkey to Greece and then to France, with Britain as his final destination in his bid for a better life.
A rice farmer whose dream of becoming a police officer never fully materialized, Ha left his two young children and his wife last summer.
His body was found on October 23 in Essex, south-eastern England, in an unbearably hot dark container truck that had been sealed for at least 12 hours.
Among the others who died alongside him were 10 teenagers, including two 15-year-old boys, and 20-year-old Nguyen Dinh Luong, who had desperately tried to call emergency services when they began to run out of air.
Nearly a year after the tragedy, prosecutors say the four accused smugglers were attempting to move two truckloads of migrants into one in an effort to avoid interception by authorities.
But like Tuan, Luong’s parents are not angry with the accused.
“They did not deliberately let them die,” Father Nguyen Van Gia told AFP.
The parents of Nguyen Dinh Luong, who died aged 20, say their son was “unlucky”. (Photo: AFP / Nhac NGUYEN)
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At their home in Ha Tinh province, neighboring Nghe An, Gia and his wife have displayed an altar adorned with images of their young son.
Luong was one of eight children and had worked and lived in France since 2018 before heading to Britain in search of better opportunities.
“No one forced him to travel, he was just unlucky,” Gia said.
“THE LUCKY”
Like others in Vietnam’s impoverished central provinces, the intermediaries induced the men to embark on illegal and dangerous trips abroad.
Young men and women often spend tens of thousands of dollars to escape the region’s rice farms, pursuing dreams of wealth abroad.
A big incentive for them is the huge houses and cars in their provinces paid for by Vietnamese immigrants working abroad, the rare success stories that hopeful young people believe are the norm. (Photo: AFP / Nhac NGUYEN)
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But many end up working illegally in nail bars or on cannabis farms in Britain, heavily in debt and subject to exploitation.
However, most migrants do not see themselves as victims because they make the decision to leave, according to Le Thi Hong Luong of the local charity Blue Dragon, which specializes in anti-trafficking efforts.
Last year’s tragedy also did little to deter interest, he said, adding that many more are likely to attempt the same trip once the pandemic is over and borders are reopened.
“A lot of people still want to go.”
A big incentive for them is the huge houses and cars in their provinces paid for by Vietnamese immigrants working abroad, the rare success stories that hopeful young people believe are the norm.
“People in Vietnam just think that those (who died) were unfortunate people, but that will not be their story,” he said.
“They will be the lucky ones.”
“I MISS HIM A LOT”
Tuan’s son Ha was already heavily in debt before he left.
He paid $ 8,500 to build the family home in addition to the $ 30,000 he gave to smugglers, and his family had relied on him for a decent salary in Britain.
Now they face even greater financial difficulties.
“We are really in financial trouble,” said Le Minh Tuan, father of Le Van Ha, 30, who was among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain last year. (Photo: AFP / Nhac NGUYEN)
“We really are in financial trouble,” Tuan said, explaining that his family’s mountain of debt had increased further after the state loaned them about $ 3,000 to bring Ha’s body home.
Like many others, local beliefs that it is bad luck to buy from a family with a recently deceased relative, especially if they were young or were killed in an accident, have compounded his misfortune.
A carpenter by trade, Tuan’s neighbors have ordered him not to do anything to them.
“This will last for two years, which means I can’t do anything to make money.”
The pain of her loss, as well as its consequences, is almost unbearable.
“I don’t know how to go on,” Tuan admitted. “I miss him a lot.”
