Vietnamese Minister of Public Security To Lam confirmed on Monday that officials have arrived in London over the weekend as an extensive investigation continues on the 39 migrants found dead in a lorry in Essex, England.
According to Viet Nam News, Lam revealed that two separate groups, one from the foreign affairs ministry, and another from public security, traveled to London after it was revealed that all of the 39 migrants may have been of Vietnamese descent.
Lam further explained that the priority of the two groups was to confirm the victims' identities as soon as possible. The Vietnamese officials brought with them the necessary files and paperwork, as well as DNA samples, to help hasten the identification process.
Finally, Lam explained that the government will try to bring the identified victims home as soon as possible. The groups sent to the United Kingdom have yet to submit their initial reports to the ministry.
On Saturday evening, a mass was held to honor the death of the 39 Essex lorry victims at the Church of the Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the eastern part of London.
Revered Simon Nguyen led the services, with over 100 people attending the mass, BBC reported. Nguyen said that the reason why people in the U.K. were "very united" because they share the same boat of being refugees.
Nguyen also noted during the mass that while there have been many disappearances among migrants from Vietnam, no reports were made by the media, even if many of the missing people died somewhere along the way.
While no official cause of death has been revealed yet as post-mortem examinations are still underway, some analysts said the 39 people who passed away inside the trailer could have died from suffocation.
Several people have already been questioned about what could be the biggest murder case in the U.K. to date. However, only Maurice "Mo" Robinson was arrested and appeared in court last week and was charged with multiple crimes, including manslaughter and human trafficking.
Robinson is believed to have picked up the trailer in Zeebrugge and hours later, in Essex, he called the authorities to inform them about the deaths of the migrants in the trailer. Essex police are still looking for two other suspects from Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, MPs under a select committee with the foreign affairs said the Essex lorry tragedy should be a "wake-up call" for the British government to discuss potential reforms in its migration policies.
The committee's report raised concerns about potential human rights abuses in limiting migration among Sudanese, Nigerians, and Libya migrants, The Guardian reported.
The report also suggested that the United Kingdom should continue to pursue close cooperation with the European Union in a bid to improve the country's migration policies so tragedies similar to the Essex lorry deaths can be prevented.
