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Agence France-Presse

The final remains of the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain last month arrived in Vietnam on Saturday, the foreign ministry said, returning them to bereft families after weeks of waiting.
The victims were among the 31 men and eight women discovered in a refrigerated truck in Essex, east of London, on October 23 – all Vietnamese nationals who were illegal migrant workers.
The first 16 bodies were returned on Wednesday, with tearful relatives mobbing ambulances when they arrived in their hometowns.
On Saturday, “the bodies and ashes of 23 remaining victims … arrived in Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi”, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sixteen bodies and the ashes of seven victims were flown from London, state-run Vietnam News Agency reported, and they were immediately “delivered to their homeland by car”.
The victims hailed mostly from the central provinces, some of the country’s poorest, while some were from the north.
Families were given two options for repatriation: US$1,800 to bring back ashes, or US$2,900 for the cost of a coffin carrying the body.
Many chose to receive the bodies because they wanted to carry out traditional burial rites, and had to take out loans from the government to facilitate the return.


The father of Le Van Ha – who left behind a wife and two children for Europe in the hopes of a higher income to support them – said on Saturday that everything was prepared for his son’s return.
“I decided to receive his body back instead of ashes so that we could see him for the last time,” Le Minh Tuan said. “Everyone is sad but finally my son will be back home.”

Several of the victims’ relatives said they borrowed tens of thousands of dollars to pay for their relatives’ trips to Europe.
The central provinces have well-entrenched networks of brokers who facilitate the risky trips with the promise of well-paid jobs, though migrants typically end up working in nail bars or cannabis farms.
UK truck deaths: families of missing Vietnamese stuck with crippling debt
The brokers promised the 39 victims the truck route was safe and billed it as the “VIP route”, their families said.
The Northern Irish driver of the truck, 25-year-old Maurice Robinson, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring to assist illegal immigration.
Several other people have been arrested in the UK over the incident, while Vietnam has held at least 10 people – though none have been formally charged.


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Vietnam

All 39 bodies of UK truck victims have now arrived back home in Vietnam

Officials at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, Vietnam, move coffins containing the bodies the victims found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain. Photo: EPA-EFE

Relatives and villagers of John Hoang Van Tiep and John Nguyen Van Hung, victims who were found dead in the back of a British truck last month, attend their funeral at the village in Nghe An province, Vietnam November 28, 2019. REUTERS/Kham

Relatives of Anna Bui Thi Nhung, one of the 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a truck near London last month, cry next to her coffin during the funeral ceremony at their home in Nghe An province, Vietnam November 30, 2019. REUTERS/Kham

UK truck deaths: British driver pleads guilty to two offences after tragedy that killed 39 Vietnamese migrants

The truck that was found to contain 39 dead bodies. Photo: AP

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 28, 2019 file photo, Nguyen Thanh Le holds his phone showing a photo of his son Nguyen Van Hung in Dien Chau district, Nghe An province, Vietnam. Ten teenagers were among the 39 Vietnamese found dead in a truck container in southeast England last month, local police said Friday, Nov. 8 while relaying for the first time details of those who died. Two of the dead were only 15, while the oldest was 44. Some 20 of the victims came from one province — Nghe An in north central Vietnam, around 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Hanoi. Nguyen Van Hung was among the dead. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh, file)

UK truck deaths: families of missing Vietnamese migrants stuck with crippling debt

Nguyen Dinh Gia (right), father of Nguyen Dinh Luong, one of the suspected truck death victims, is embraced by a friend at his home in Ha Tinh province, Vietnam, on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Hoang Lanh, father of 18-year old Hoang Van Tiep who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, looks at his son's photograph on his phone at their house in Dien Thinh commune of Vietnam's Nghe An province on October 28, 2019. - Vietnamese officials collected DNA samples on October 27 from relatives of those feared among 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, a security source and a family member told AFP, as villagers held emotional prayers for the victims. (Photo by Nhac NGUYEN / AFP)

A handout photo made available by Essex Police in London on October 29, 2019, shows Christopher Hughes (L) and his brother Ronan Hughes, who are being sought in connection with the discovery of the 39 Vietnamese bodies found in a truck in Grays on October 23. - British police probing the deaths of 39 people in a truck said Tuesday they want to question two Northern Irish brothers on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking. Essex Police, which is investigating last week's disaster, said they wanted to speak to Ronan Hughes, 40, and his 34-year-old brother Christopher, who are both from Armagh. Eight women and 31 men were found Wednesday in a refrigeration truck trailer that entered Britain on a ferry from Belgium. Several Vietnamese families fear their relatives are among the dead. (Photo by HO / Essex Police / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ESSEX POLICE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Tran Thi Hien (C), mother of Bui Thi Nhung, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, is consoled inside her house in Vietnam's Nghe An province on October 26, 2019. - A photo of her missing daughter Bui Thi Nhung, an offering of fruit and a bouquet of flowers -- a makeshift shrine laid by a desperate mother in a remote Vietnamese town many fear was home to some of the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain. More than 20 Vietnamese are feared to be among the bodies found in a refrigerated trailer in an industrial park in Essex east of London on October 23. (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)

Vietnam makes arrests as it cracks down on people smuggling after UK truck deaths

A portrait of 20-year-old Nguyen Dinh Luong, who is feared to be among the 39 people found dead in a truck in Britain, is kept on a prayer altar at his house in Vietnam's Ha Tinh province. Vietnamese police are cracking down on people smuggling. Photo: AFP

Essex truck deaths: why are so many Chinese and Vietnamese being trafficked to the UK?

Police at the scene where 39 bodies were discovered in a lorry container, in Essex, Britain. Photo: Reuters

epa07946455 People hold a candlelight vigil for the victims that died in a lorry container, in London, Britain, 24 October 2019. A total of 39 bodies were discovered inside a lorry container in Grays, Essex in the early hours of 23 October, and pronounced dead at the scene. EPA-EFE/ANDY RAIN

epa07402965 A handout photo made available by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) on 28 February 2019 shows a GPO officer holding a marijuana seedling inside a greenhouse during the opening ceremony of the first indoor cannabis farm in Thailand, at GPO facilities in Pathum Thani province, Thailand, 27 February 2019 (issued 28 February). The GPO is to open the first legal marijuana farm which is producing the first legal crop of the plant out of the ASEAN countries. Thailand is intending to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. EPA-EFE/GPO / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Maurice Robinson. Photo: Facebook

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The bodies and ashes of 23 of the victims arrived in Hanoi, after 16 were flown home earlier in the week
They were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex after being promised well-paid jobs in the UK



The bodies and ashes of 23 of the victims arrived in Hanoi, after 16 were flown home earlier in the week.


Britain

UK truck deaths

Human trafficking

All 39 bodies of UK truck victims have now arrived back home in Vietnam

The bodies and ashes of 23 of the victims arrived in Hanoi, after 16 were flown home earlier in the week They were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex after being promised well-paid jobs in the UK

The bodies and ashes of 23 of the victims arrived in Hanoi, after 16 were flown home earlier in the week

They were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Essex after being promised well-paid jobs in the UK