It was a terrifying way to die. The grim discovery of 39 people found frozen to death inside a container at the back of a truck in southern England earlier this month is a stark reminder of the risks people will take in search of a better life.

Police initially believed all the dead were Chinese citizens but more than 20 Vietnamese families, almost all from the same region, have since expressed fears that their loved ones were among the victims. Some say almost all of the 39 victims were Vietnamese.

British police have charged the truck’s 25-year-old driver with 39 counts of manslaughter.

The regular and highly dangerous smuggling of people from Vietnam to the United Kingdom was revealed in a 2016 Al Jazeera documentary.

Britain’s Modern Slave Trade revealed that Nghe An province – where families held a vigil for the truck victims last week – is a hotbed of people traffickers.

In one of Vietnam’s poorest regions, criminal gangs often exploit young people who are desperate to go to Western Europe and send money back to their families. Tiếp tục đọc “UK truck deaths: How Vietnam is still a hotbed of people traffickers” →