Fear snakeheads behind tragedy
China said yesterday it was working with British authorities to establish the identities of the 39 people found frozen to death in the back of a lorry.
Police confirmed that eight women and 31 men were found dead in the vehicle on an industrial estate in Grays, Essex, after being shipped from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge.
The news that they were all Chinese nationals prompted fears that ruthless ‘‘snakehead’’ gangs that charge thousands of pounds to smuggle people into Britain and force them into labour when they arrive, were responsible for the tragedy.
Pippa Mills, the deputy chief constable of Essex Police, said last night: ‘‘This is an incredibly sensitive and high-profile investigation and we are working swiftly to gather as full a picture as possible as to how these people lost their lives. Recovery of the bodies is ongoing and the post-mortem and identification processes, which will be lengthy and complex, can then begin.’’
The Chinese embassy said it was in close contact with British police. Officials were expected to visit Tilbury, in Essex, where the bodies were transferred to a mortuary.
In a statement, the embassy said: ‘‘We read with heavy heart the reports about the death of 39 people. We are in close contact with the British police to seek clarification and confirmation of the relevant reports.’’
The case has echoes of a similar tragedy in 2000, when the bodies of 58 migrants were found in a container that had travelled from the same Belgian port, this time to Dover.
During the trial of Perry Wacker, the Dutch lorry driver who was jailed for 14 years for their manslaughter, it was heard that the group had begun the journey in China’s capital Beijing.
The group of 60, of which only two survived, paid £20,000 (NZ$40,000) each for the fatal journey which began with them flying to the Serbian capital Belgrade on their real passports. They were then issued with fake passports and held in safe houses until given code numbers, which were sewn into their clothes, partly to prevent them being ‘‘stolen’’ by other gangs. The codes later helped police link them to a ringleader.
They were driven in cars to Hungary before being transported through Austria and France in the back of the lorry before boarding a train to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
From here they were put in another lorry, which was driven to Zeebrugge, and on to a ferry to Dover. En route the lorry’s air vent was closed and they suffocated.
Last year Spanish officials arrested 155 mostly Chinese nationals after noticing an increase in activity and busted a gang that trafficked Chinese migrants into Britain and Ireland for £18,000 per person.
In the latest case it was unclear where the 39 people climbed into the container, though it is thought they were already inside when it entered the Zeebrugge port.
Steve Harvey, a former senior Europol officer who now works as an immigration consultant, investigated ‘‘Snakehead’’ operations after the Dover incident in 2000. He said most irregular Chinese migrants came from the Fujian province in south-east China.
‘‘They were usually flown direct to Russia, almost like a staging area, then they would travel to the Balkans, either by air or by road. They would be in south-east Europe for some time waiting for the next leg of the journey,’’ he said.
‘‘They would be harboured in secure housing controlled by smugglers. There were instances of migrants being kidnapped by other ‘Snakeheads’ and ransomed.’’
He said such gangs, which had been operating for hundreds of years, were still using the similar trafficking techniques.
Once they reach the UK their ordeal is often not at an end and they may be further trafficked, like the cockle pickers who lost their lives in Morecambe Bay in February 2004.
‘‘They arrive as irregular migrants and are highly susceptible to internal trafficking in the sex industry and the black labour market.’’
Aaron Halegua, a research fellow at New York University who has worked on human trafficking cases involving Chinese migrants, said sometimes those making the journey were ‘‘not told that much information, and not told much about the final destination, or the process to get there’’.
For now, ‘‘Snakeheads’’ peddle their wares openly in China – online searches quickly turn up websites and social media accounts advertising such services, some starting at £6500, advertising passage to Australia.
‘‘Like any sort of business or scheme, you have advertisements, and all this stuff they’re throwing at people,’’ said Halegua. ‘‘You’re susceptible if you’re in an economic rut.’’
With jobs in China increasingly hard to find, particularly for those in rural areas as the broader economy slows, it is possible more will fall victim.
Harvey said if the people had made the journey safely to the UK there were normally two options when they arrived; they would either be met by an agent or be given a phone number.
Once on British soil it would be likely that they would ‘‘disappear into the black labour market, working in restaurants or Chinese-run businesses,’’ he said. – Telegraph Group