A Vietnamese man who came to the UK illegally in a lorry container says that life was “really bad” in his home country and he “didn’t care” if he died while trying to escape. (
The 20 – year-old, from north Vietnam, arrived in Britain in 2017 in the back of a lorry and lives illegally with no official documents.
He works in a restaurant cooking food and says coming to the UK was his only option – but the risk was high.
The man told Sky News: “Life was really bad in Vietnam and I was sad to leave but I had no choice and needed to leave. I needed to come to the UK for a new life.”
He added: “When I left Vietnam I didn’t care about dying. I was going to die in Vietnam anyway so if I died on the way to the UK I didn’t care , it’s worth it. I was desperate to leave Vietnam and get to the UK for work. “
He went on: “The journey to the UK wasn’t scary because there was no choice for me.”
The man also gave his reaction to the news that some of the 39 people found dead in a refrigerated trailer in an Essex industrial estate early last Wednesday are believed to be Vietnamese.
He said: “When I heard that some people from the 39 are from Vietnam, it broke my heart.
“I know how hard it is to come here, and how difficult the decision is to come here. So these people who lost their life coming here, [it] breaks my heart.
“I hope that I can help in any way to identify these people.”
The man’s story is not uncommon. The UK is now home to thousands of migrants who have made the hazardous journey from Vietnam to earn money.
Many work in nail bars, restaurants and in the illicit cannabis industry.
The priest of a popular east London cathedral, who many illegal migrants trust, has said the whole Vietnamese community is in shock following the discovery of the bodies in Grays.
Rev Simon Thang Duc Nguyen said: “I went back to Vietnam. I told them [to] please think long and twice before you make a risky journey, but I don’t know, they chose this way.”
Olivier Ly owns a takeaway in east London. Some of his friends traveled to the UK in containers from Vietnam.
He thinks there is no end to this illegal movement.
He said: “It’s not going to deter them that some of them have lost their lives, it’s a very sad tragedy but they’re still going to come over because there’s still opportunities here that they have that they won’t have in their home country in Vietnam. “
Lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 25, will appear in court today charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.
Essex Police also confirmed that a man in his 20 s arrested in Dublin over an unconnected matter on Saturday “is a person of interest” in their investigation.
A spokesman said: “We are liaising with the Garda via telephone as this man is currently held outside the jurisdiction of the law of England and Wales.”
Three other people arrested in connection with the deaths have been released on bail.
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