Observer: Serbia, Romania open the door in Europe to smugglers gangs from Vietnam

According to Observer's research, in which the N1 has also participated, there is “opening a new road to human trafficking”. The investigation came after the shocking living conditions of Vietnamese workers were discovered at the Linglong factory.

When the construction of the Linglong tyre factory in Zrenjanin began, the investment was welcomed by official Belgrade as the crown of strategic co-operation between Serbia and China.

Two years later, it was found that 500 construction workers from Vietnam who are working on factory construction live in crowded and humiliating conditions, and their passports were confiscated by their employer.

The case shocked opinion in Serbia and the European Parliament requires an investigation and answers to how such a case of human trafficking in the heart of Europe could occur.

However, the Linglong factory is just the first stop on the long journey of many workers targeting Great Britain and Europe.

Observers' research has shown that Serbia and Romania are being used by human trafficking gangs as a kind of “port to Europe”. In fact, gangs have discovered a new scheme for smuggling people through visa programmes in order to smuggle a large number of Vietnamese in Eastern Europe. Workers from Vietnam have been used in shipyards and factories, many of which are trying to reach the center of Europe or in the most western countries.

As they try to reach the center of Europe, many fall into the trap of forced labour or debt slavery, Oobserver points out, adding that the figure smugglers load up to 30,000 pounds to go to Great Britain.

The death of 39 immigrants from Vietnam in a truck container in 2019 attracted the attention of the British public, who was later aware of the danger that immigrants in that country are exposed to.

Those who make it to Great Britain are often forced to pay their debt by doing hard, low - paying jobs or by engaging in criminal activities, such as working on marijuana plantations. Workers from Vietnam to Great Britain are one of the largest groups at risk of modern slavery.

Nusrat Udin, a trafficking specialist with the legal firm Wilson Solicators LLP, often represents victims of modern trafficking and slavery in Great Britain. According to her, many of her latest clients began their trip to Great Britain from Serbia and Romania.

Almost all of our clients are promised a decent job and satisfactory compensation for it. But reality is mostly different. That is why many decide to continue their way to Europe, again because of false promises of better working conditions and salaries”, he said.

In a conversation with workers from Vietnam, it was concluded that the first groups came to Serbia in August. Since about 500 workers arrived and each was charged with 1700 pounds per visa and other services, it is claimed that the recruiting agencies earned 850 thousand pounds from this group alone.

Yuan * arrived in Serbia from Vietnam thanks to a working visa organised by his recruiting agency, whose commercial he saw on Facebook. He was promised a well - paid job at a tyre factory in Germany and finished at the Linglong factory in Zrenjanin.

When I arrived at the factory, I realized that its owners were practically buying workers from Vietnam. And once you get there, you have to do everything you're told, “said Juan.

His passport has also been removed from his employers and it has been announced that his salary will be twice as small as agreed.

Many of us had coronarys... and we had no medical assistance”, he added. He learned more difficult what the citizens of Zrenjan have known for years than water is not drinking.

The water is very bad, it's yellow and it's not drinking. Food wasn't good or enough, so we were forced to hunt”.

Juan said 30 of his colleagues from the Linglong factory had already left Serbia to reach Great Britain.

For people who want to reach Great Britain, going to Serbia (as the first stop) is relatively free. It's about 1700 pounds you have to pay for agency”, he said.

During the research, Oobserver found that workers who first go to the Balkans and then want to go to the EU or to Great Britain have “available” several roads through several smuggling networks. One of the most widely used roads is from Serbia, via Romania, Slovakia, Germany and France. Those who want to go to Great Britain mostly gather in an improvised camp in France from where they arrive in Britain with the help of boats.

Mimi Wu, a trafficking specialist living in Vietnam, spent months investigating the abuse of the visa regime between Eastern European and Vietnam countries, as well as the exploitation of workers from this country.

“due to visa agreements, it is easier to obtain visas for Serbia or Romania, which means that the costs for migrants are lower. It's a much lower price than for <x1-traditional” roads that lead through Moscow or the center of Europe, such as Poland or the Czech Republic. Costs through these countries amount to 30 thousand pounds”, Wu said.

“In the case of the Linglong factory, people decided most often to come there because they were told they would work in a German-owned factory or because they already had plans to continue in Europe,” added Wu.

Observer also had access to a document called “Obligim not to escape” that Vietnamese recruiting agencies give workers to sign before the visa process begins. Workers ' families also owe the agency their annual salary if the worker leaves work. The contract envisions payment being made within a week.

Many who left Vietnam have families who helped raise money for the trip. That's why workers have the feeling they can't leave work until their debt” is repaid, Wu said. Therefore, unless in Serbia they earn as much as they are promised, workers are also encouraged to seek employment elsewhere.

Juan also told Oobserver that many workers he worked with in Linglong had to collect additional money to come to the EU.

Some of the workers have even arranged to go to Great Britain before they arrived in Serbia. Others contacted smugglers negotiating payments with workers' families in Vietnam”, Twan said.

Even though Serbia is relatively new on the map of criminal gangs, Romania, which signed a bilateral agreement with Vietnam on labour force imports in 2018, is a well-known entry point for the EU.

And in this country, many workers find themselves at dangerous work where they are exploited.

Manh * arrived in Romania in 2019 along with 60 other workers from Vietnam to work for a large construction company. By 2021, half of his group had already left their jobs for Central Europe or Great Britain.

“Many went away a month or two after their arrival.” His brother, who also worked in Romania, also left this country for another company. “Paga in Romania is simply very low. ”

Manh says he is now trapped in Romania ... his contract expired in March, and his employer refused to renew it. That means he is now visa-free, job and money to return to Vietnam.

Asked if there was any plan to leave Romania in search of work, he replied: “It's classified”.

Despite the small number of workers captured by Vietnam during the illegal crossing of the border, Wu believes it is “the iceberg “>.

It's a new way of working. “Vietnamese citizens enter Romania legally thanks to working visas, and only later are found to have left the country --” said a Romanian border police spokesman for Observer.

Social networks play a vital role in human trafficking. Facebook groups, led by smuggling gangs, also offer package “VIP” including crossing across the border by private vehicle. Pakos are promoted by numbers, which are actually coded by areas of places where immigrants want to go. Although prices fell during the pandemic, groups reported going to Great Britain for 10,000 pounds.

Currently travel with package “VIP” is pretty tough. Romanian police seized smugglers of people transporting workers into trucks with two walls where people would be “packed”.

Since the pandemic did not threaten smuggling channels, Trung (36), who now lives in Germany without letters and who left Romania in October 2020, also testifies.

He wanted to stay in Romania, but his employer refused to renew his documents that would allow him to stay legally in that country. According to him, he had either the choice or the false record or the effort to reach Germany.

“Paga in Romania is slightly higher than in Vietnam,” said Trung, who was paid $750 a month by his employer. He was aware of the danger of traveling farther west, but he left anyway. “I believe in luck. The decision is like a card game: your chances of success are 50-50”.

The problems are greater for those who want to reach Great Britain than Germany or France. No matter which package “VIP” buys, they still have to cross the English Channel with a little gomone.

“Historically, Vietnamese smugglers used their networks. After Brexit, the lack of trucks and the death of people during transport in 2019, migrants began using other channels”, Wu said. In conversations with Vietnamese in France waiting to come to Great Britain, all told me that now the only way to cross La Mansh is in a burmon. ”

Last week it was found that the 27 people who drowned as they crossed the English Channel came from Vietnam.