Christian charity International Justice Mission has talked about the danger of human trafficking and slavery as there’s speculation that is what could have led to 39 people being found dead in a lorry in Essex.
The victims, including a teenager, were found at the Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays early on Wednesday.
Essex police said the lorry driver, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
The lorry is from Bulgaria and entered the UK at Holyhead in north Wales, one of the main ports for ferries from Ireland.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “appalled by this tragic incident”, adding: “My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives and loved ones.”
While police haven’t confirmed why the people were in the lorry, there has been speculation that they were being trafficked.
Local Tory MP Jackie Doyle-Price said “people trafficking is a vile and dangerous business”, adding: “Let’s hope they bring these murderers to justice.”
Andy Bevan, International Justice Mission’s Scotland director, spoke on Premier News Hour and said slavery is a “desperately dark and violent crime”.
“Current estimates suggest that somewhere in the region of 14 million people around the world currently live in slavery,” he said.
“It often starts when desperate people are preyed upon by traffickers. They’re sold lies. They’re deceived. They’re promised jobs and a better life. And they buy into that lie and are then traffic into a whole range of different forms of slavery.”
He said the people who come from poor and rural communities in the world are often the ones that are preyed upon.
“They’re desperate for a break in life and they’re often but not always trafficked into more urbanised settings, and that’s where the exploitation takes place,” Bevan said.
He added that signs of trafficking and slavery include groups of people being dropped off at an unusual location at an unusual point in the day.
Haulage industry experts suggested the lorry was likely to have arrived in Ireland from Cherbourg or Roscoff, avoiding the tighter checks for people-smuggling at Calais and Dover.
Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said: “This tragedy highlights the danger of migrant gangs people-smuggling on lorries.”
He told the PA news agency: “It’s highly unlikely that if this vehicle has come from Europe that it’s been physically checked.
“Because of the migrant issue at Dover and Calais, you’ve got far more checks.”
Mr Burnett said the container appeared to be a refrigerated unit, where temperatures can be as low as -25C – and described conditions for anyone inside as “absolutely horrendous”.
Essex police have said the trailer carrying the bodies of 39 people which was originally believed to have travelled from Northern Ireland is now believed to have travelled from Belgium.
The PSNI is assisting the Essex Police with their investigation and a 25-year-old man from Portadown is undergoing questioning.
In a 4pm update Essex police said the trailer came from Zeebrugge in Belgium to Purfleet, Essex and docked in the Thurrock area shortly after 12.30am.
They said the tractor unit originated from Northern Ireland and it along with the trailer left the port shortly after 1.05am.
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