Eight arrested in Vietnam over Essex lorry deaths

Eight people have been arrested by Vietnamese police in connection with the 39 migrants found dead in a lorry in Essex.

They were held on Sunday on suspicion of organising people smuggling overseas.

The 31 men and eight women who were discovered in the back of the refrigerated truck in Grays are thought to have been Vietnamese.

A spokeswoman for the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the incident a "serious humanitarian tragedy".

On Saturday, a remembrance service for the victims was held at the Church of the Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Bow, east London, which has a large Vietnamese congregation.

Reverend Simon Nguyen said that the church has assisted with the investigation into the tragedy, including working with the police. So far two people have been charged.

Essex Police have started extradition proceedings to bring 22-year-old Eamonn Harrison from Ireland to the UK.

Harrison, of Newry in Co Down, Northern Ireland, appeared at Dublin High Court on Friday charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, along with human trafficking and immigration offences, and was remanded in custody.

The driver of the lorry, Mo Robinson, 25, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and money laundering.

Detectives have also urged Ronan Hughes, 40, and his brother Christopher, 34, said to have links with the road haulage and shipping industries, to hand themselves in.

The pair, from Armagh in Northern Ireland, are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking.

Deaths should be ‘wake up call’ for Government

The "tragic" deaths of 39 people found in the back of a lorry in Essex should be "wake up call for the Government" to rethink its approach to illegal migration, MPs have said.

In a new report, published on Monday, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee warned that a policy focused on closing borders will drive migrants to take more dangerous routes and push them into the hands of smugglers.

The committee said the human cost of so-called "irregular" migration made international partnerships, including with the EU, "essential".

Committee chair Tom Tugendhat said until the UK left the EU it should return to the meetings where migration is discussed and plan the response to illegal migration together.

The Tonbridge and Malling MP added: "The case of 39 people found dead in a lorry in Essex shocked us all.

"The full story won’t be clear for some time but this tragedy is not alone. Today, hundreds of families across the world are losing loved ones who felt driven to take the fatal gamble to entrust their lives to smugglers.

"This case should serve as a wake-up call to the Foreign Office and to Government.

"The UK has been relatively isolated from the different migrant crises in recent years – but it’s wrong to assume that we are protected from their impact.

"The UK has a proud history of helping those fleeing conflict and persecution and cooperating with others to protect human rights.

"We should lead by example."

The report, Responding to irregular migration: a diplomatic route, also raised concerns about deals to limit migration with countries such as Libya, Niger and Sudan as risking fuelling human rights abuses.

It warned that these deals could be used as leverage by partner governments such as Turkish President Erdogan’s recent threat to "reopen the gates".

The committee said that although the Home Office leads on the UK response to irregular migration, this could lead to the "error of focusing on preventing migration to the exclusion of other goals such as preventing conflict and promoting stability and respect for fundamental human rights".

It called for more effort to negotiate future close cooperation on migration policy with the EU and an immediate return of UK officials to EU-level meetings where irregular migration is discussed.

Other recommendations included the expansion of legal pathways to apply for asylum outside Europe and robust monitoring and safeguards to ensure UK funding to migration programmes in Libya was not contributing to human rights abuses.

Mr Tugendhat said that the committee’s inquiry had been cut short by the "uncertain nature of Parliamentary business" but it hoped to return to the issues in the future.

"Irregular migration" is defined by the International Organisation on Migration as the "movement of persons that takes place outside the laws, regulations, or international agreements governing the entry into or exit from the State of origin, transit or destination".