Essex: the 39 dead in the refrigerated truck are Chinese

This is the reality of human trafficking. The bodies believed to have been in the container at a temperature of -25 ° C for at least 10 hours. A network of traffickers unites people in Ireland, Belgium, Bulgaria and China. Chinese mafias are selling people at a cost of 200-300 thousand yuan (around 25 thousand - 38 thousand euros). In era of Xi Jinping's "Chinese dream" Chinese still prefer to migrate.

London (AsiaNews / Agencies) - British police have confirmed that the 39 dead people found in the refrigerated compartment of a truck in Essex, on the outskirts of London, are of Chinese nationality. According to the first reconstructions, they must have remained for at least 10 hours in the container with a temperature of -25 ° C.

Investigators are verifying the existence of a human trafficking network with branches in Ireland, the truck driver's country of origin, in Belgium and Bulgaria. The driver, 25-year-old Mo Robinson, had left Laurelvale, Co Armagh, to go by ferry from Dublin to Holyhead (North Wales) and collect the container. The truck is registered in Bulgaria on behalf of an Irish company.

The container had arrived in Zeebrugge three days ago and moved to the port of Purfleet in Essex on the same day. From here, with the truck, the container was transported to the Waterglade industrial park in Thurrock (Essex), where an ambulance made the gruesome discovery, revealing the presence of 31 men and eight women frozen dead.

The mechanics of the tragedy cast doubt on the ability of the Belgian port authorities to control human trafficking. The British government had previously reported the presence of criminal gangs in Belgium working with refrigerated trucks to transport migrants to the United Kingdom.

For the British police, this is the worst case of human trafficking in almost 20 years.

Another terrible case occurred in 2000, when 58 bodies of Chinese were found in a Dutch container in Dover. Even that container had been loaded by Zeebrugge.

Every year, thousands of Chinese migrate illegally in search of a better life in the West. They rely on Chinese mafias who sell people at a cost of 200-300 thousand yuan (around 25 thousand - 38 thousand euros).

In China the news has received hundreds of thousands of comments on the internet and in newspapers. Many wonder why, although China is in the midst of Xi Jinping's "Chinese dream" and although there is neither poverty nor war, many Chinese still dream of going to the West.

• China
• Britain
• economy
• human trafficking
• migrants
• smuggling
• Chinese dream