Police officers work at the scene where 39 bodies were found in a shipping container at Waterglade Industrial Park in Essex, Britain, on Oct. 23, 2019. (Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)
Britain and the world at large were jolted by the recent discovery of 39 bodies in a refrigerated lorry container in an industrial park in southeast England.
The tragic journey of eight women and 31 men, whose identities have yet to be confirmed, once again raised grave concerns over illegal immigration and human trafficking.
ONGOING IDENTIFICATION EFFORTS
While the bodies of the 39 people have been moved to a hospital for post-mortem identification, police are making every effort to find out what happened to the victims, a process that could prove to be long and complex.
The British police on Tuesday launched a manhunt for two brothers who are wanted on suspicion of manslaughter and human trafficking over the bodies found on Oct. 23 in the lorry in Essex, a county some 30 km southeast of London.
"Finding and speaking to the Hughes brothers is crucial to our investigation," said Detective Chief Superintendent Stuart Hooper, referring to Ronan Hughes, 40, and his brother Christopher, 34, both from Armagh in Northern Ireland.
The 25-year-old lorry driver Maurice Robinson, from Northern Ireland, appeared Monday at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court via video link, while being charged with 39 counts of manslaughter, conspiracy to traffic people, conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration, and money laundering.
He has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at the Central Criminal Court in London on Nov. 25. Meanwhile, three people previously arrested in connection with the investigation have been released on bail.
Although police have had over 500 exhibits, including mobile phones and clothes that belonged to the deceased, they still needed more information to assist a wider investigation, the police said.
"We are working hard to understand how the 39 victims of this tragic incident have died and to identify all those involved. We remain open-minded as to the nationalities of those who have died," said Detective Chief Inspector Martin Pasmore.
Regarding the initial reports about the identities of the victims, British police warned that media speculation may hinder the investigation.
"We owe it to those who have died to get this investigation right and speculation is not helpful. It may in fact hinder our investigation and its progress," said a statement by Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills of the Essex police.
CONCERNS OVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
The horrendous discovery of the lorry deaths triggered wider concerns over illegal immigration in Europe and beyond.
According to the International Organization for Migration's missing migrants project, more than 4,000 people have died or gone missing on migratory routes around the globe in each of the last five years.
As the investigation of the lorry deaths is still ongoing, eight migrants, including four children, were found in a UK-bound refrigerated truck in Calais in northern France, local media reported on Monday.
Due to improved security in such French ports like Calais, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) warned that countries like Belgium have become the new frontier in the battle against illegal immigration as smugglers are targeting easier routes through ports like Zeebrugge.
The NCA also warned that there had been a sharp rise in the number of migrants using "higher risk methods of clandestine entry" to Britain such as refrigerated heavy goods vehicles and containers, as well as small boats used to cross the English Channel.
David Bolt, the country's independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, said chronic shortages of staff at smaller ports on the south and east coast of England had left them vulnerable to illegal immigrants.
In response, the British government said it is recruiting an extra 1,400 border staff. Priti Patel, the home secretary, has pledged "ruthless" efforts in response to the "appalling" incident of lorry deaths, indicating that she was willing to consider tougher sentences for human traffickers.
But experts pointed out that merely strengthening border control or tougher sentences for the traffickers are far from enough to solve a complex issue like illegal immigration.
Zhu Xiaojiu, founder and president of the UK Society of Chinese Lawyers and director of Cruickshanks Solicitors, said the lorry incident is "a tragedy of humankind irrespective of nationality."
"Both human trafficking and human smuggling involved transport(ing) people across multiple international borders. Therefore, a joint effort is required to stop such crime," she said.
INT'L COOPERATION URGED
Anthony Glees, a professor at the University of Buckingham, told Xinhua that better detection technology and effective intelligence cooperation between countries are equally important.
"What's needed are effective international intelligence cooperation and the development of technology to detect individuals hidden in trucks, containers and cars," said Glees, an expert on European affairs, security and intelligence issues.
"Without the one, the other is not going to work," he said.
Intelligence is not just about tip-offs as to who might be on the move across the world but also, and perhaps more crucially, who might be prepared to facilitate people smuggling, he added.
This requires intelligence sharing from secret intelligence agencies such as Britain's NCA and Military Intelligence 6, Germany's BND, or the Federal Intelligence Service, as well as the International Criminal Police Organization and the European Union's law enforcement cooperation Europol, said Glees.
However, observers pointed out that a mere border crackdown fails to address the root causes of the problem. The issue of immigration should be addressed in a more humanitarian manner, and only peace and development in less developed countries will help tackle the challenges in the long term.
"Global migration will not be controlled merely by raising the drawbridge at the white cliffs of Dover," said the British daily Guardian in an editorial.
"It also requires some appreciation of the modern migratory pressures which are forcing and encouraging millions to make long and dangerous journeys to escape suffering and poverty and to seek safer and better lives in countries like Britain," it said.
"If a policy of blocking the borders means people are prepared to clamber into refrigerated containers to get across that border, then the policy itself may be part of the problem," it added.
