The heartbreaking case of 39 Vietnamese people who died in a refrigerated truck in the UK in 2019 has reached a new chapter as a Belgian court sentenced the ringleader of the human smuggling ring to 15 years in prison. Vo Van Hong, 45, was convicted of masterminding the horrific tragedy and was also fined 920,000 euros. The sentence was handed down on January 19 in Bruges, Belgium, and also concluded the trial of 17 other accomplices who received sentences ranging from just over a year to 10 years in prison.
This tragic incident shocked the world, exposing the brutality of human trafficking and its terrible consequences. The 39 victims, including minors, suffocated in appalling conditions inside the sealed truck. They were treated like commodities, exploited and inhumanely treated by those who only valued profit. Each victim paid nearly 25,000 euros for the hope of a better life in the UK, but ultimately, they found only death in the cold truck.
Among the 18 defendants, 11 were of Vietnamese origin, indicating the involvement of various individuals in this human smuggling network, from those running the ring to small-scale facilitators. The roles of the accomplices included providing gathering points, fake documents, SIM cards, and acting as intermediaries. The Belgian court confiscated nearly 2.3 million euros from Vo Van Hong, the illicit profits from this ruthless human trafficking operation.
Bruges Court in Belgium on January 19, during verdicts for the 39 Vietnamese truck deaths case.
The trial in Bruges was the result of a major crackdown by Belgian police since May 2020. Numerous locations, mainly in the Brussels area, were raided, and many Vietnamese suspects were arrested. Most of these individuals were accused of being members of the human smuggling ring, while others were charged with complicity for roles such as providing shelter, purchasing supplies, or driving migrants.
According to the investigation, at least 15 of the 39 victims who died in the truck were linked to the human smuggling network based in Belgium. This network operated two migrant shelters on the route to the UK in the Anderlecht district of Brussels. The tragedy occurred on October 23, 2019, when the bodies of 39 Vietnamese people, including 31 men and 8 women, were found at an industrial estate in Grays, north of London. The cause of death was determined to be suffocation and hyperthermia in the enclosed and refrigerated space of the truck. They had endured a perilous journey by ferry from Zeebrugge port in Belgium to the UK.
Most of the victims came from Nghe An and Ha Tinh, provinces in central Vietnam that face economic hardship and have suffered severely from the marine environmental disaster caused by Formosa. Promises of job opportunities in Europe led them and their families to take out large loans to pay brokers, hoping to change their lives through risky illegal migration.
Previously, in 2023, a court in the UK also sentenced four men, including two truck drivers, for manslaughter and immigration-related offenses. They received sentences ranging from 13 to 27 years in prison. These sentences, in both the UK and Belgium, demonstrate the seriousness of the law in punishing human trafficking crimes and serve as a stark warning to those contemplating illegal immigration and placing their trust in inhumane smuggling rings. The case of the 39 deaths in the truck is a wake-up call about the issue of human trafficking and its devastating consequences, requiring the joint efforts of the international community to prevent and completely eradicate this type of crime.
