The Essex 39 Tragedy speaks of horrors of human trafficking and forced migration
We in the International Migrants Alliance (IMA) are both saddened and angered by the tragedy that struck the 39 women and men who were found dead inside a refrigerated lorry in the United Kingdom last October 23, Wednesday.
With 31 of whom believed to have hailed from Vietnam, all 39 are victims of human trafficking and smuggling. According to news reports, recruiters were paid around US$30,000 to US$43,000 by the victims who only wished to work in the UK and give their families back home a good life. Jobs allegedly offered were at nail bars or cannabis farms.
“I’m sorry, Mum. My journey abroad hasn’t succeeded. Mum, I love you so much. I’m dying because I can’t breathe.”
This text message of 26-year old Pham Thi Tra My (possibly one of the 39) to her parents back in Vietnam speaks volumes of the horrors that many trafficking victims go through everyday of their lives. The sheer lack of employment opportunities, abject poverty, rising cost of living as well as human rights abuses, conflicts and wars back in their home countries push many people like Pham Thi Tra My to gamble their life savings (or go into deep debt), their dignity and their very own lives just to find “greener pastures” overseas and eke out a living for the loved ones they were forced to leave behind.
According to the International Labour Organization, there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally – 81 per cent of whom are trapped in forced labor and 75 per cent being women and children. Such a number would account for 15.6 per cent of the 258 million international migrants.
Victims of human trafficking suffer the worst forms of abuse and exploitation. Their documents can be taken away from them or faked. They can be subject to slave-like conditions, bonded labor and are vulnerable to sexual and physical assault. Such a horrific situation is faced too by temporary migrant workers who have gone through regular channels, refugees and asylum seekers, and even settled immigrants who have either permanent or citizenship status.
Forced migration makes people vulnerable wherever they may be. Their human rights are put to a bare minimum if not completely neglected. Their freedoms are limited. The issue of human dignity is a term only read on government statements but not actively upheld and protected in many national laws, policies and mechanisms. In the eyes of the state, migration is a security concern and migrants, especially undocumented migrants, are criminalized.
Sending country governments are just as accountable. The conditions breeding the people’s desperation to migrate are profited upon by recruitment agencies and loan sharks. Instead of developing a national economy that creates jobs at home, governments adopt a labor export policy, in which the recruitment and deployment of cheap labor abroad is systematized. Laws, and even bilateral agreements, protecting migrants from illegal recruitment, from being charged exorbitant and illegal fees, and other violations are either weak or not enforced. This is basically legalized trafficking.
First, we call for justice to the 39 victims. An independent investigation should be conducted into the whole trafficking case. Both the UK and Vietnamese governments have the responsibility of impeding any more cases of smuggling and trafficking, in which the victims should be protected at all times, not criminalized, condemned or punished. Oftentimes, victims of human trafficking and smuggling bear the burden of proving their innocence and had to suffer through persecution, humiliation and abuse before receiving the justice they deserve.
Second, we wish to extend our sympathies to the families of the victims. They too deserve justice. They should be compensated for the loss of their loved ones and be protected from any further harm, whether from syndicates involved in the trafficking or any institution for that matter.
Thirdly, we challenge the governments and the international community to address squarely human trafficking by going into the root causes of forced migration, recognizing these problems and finding solutions that are based on human rights, centered on people’s interest and not on capitalist profit, and in the framework of justice.
The current trend of international migration is a forced one and is a clear symptom of maldevelopment – in which migrants are cheap and docile labor commodified and exploited for maximum profit of capitalist states and corporations. With a global system built on capitalist exploitation, forced migration is a tragedy that kills slowly or instantly, as in the case Pham Thi Tra My and the 38 women and men in that lorry. And sadly, this will not be the last.
As we call on our member organizations and networks to help anyone who might fall victim to human smuggling or trafficking, exploitation or abuse, let us all look forward and work collectively toward a world where there is genuine prosperity, justice and peace experienced by all people and the desperation to migrate is a thing of the past.
Reference: Eni Lestari, Chairperson