Dozens of people gathered at London's Vietnamese Catholic pastoral centre for a Mass and prayer vigil to remember the 39 people from Vietnam found dead in a lorry in a car park in Essex.
The Mass at the Church of the Holy Name and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Bow, east London was led by Father Simon Thang Duc Nguyen, parish priest and also a chaplain to the Vietnamese community in England and Wales. He himself escaped Vietnam in 1984.
Members of the congregation read from Scripture and red candles were lit in the image of "39".
It was originally thought the victims were from China, but police have now confirmed that all 39 were from Vietnam, where poor job prospects, smuggling gangs, and environmental disasters are among factors pushing people to leave. Police there arrested eight people earlier this week on suspicion of involvement. The Nghe An province police chief Nguyen Huu Cau told Vietnam News Agency: “Based on what we are learning from the suspects, we will actively launch investigations to fight and eradicate the rings which bring people illegally to Britain."
Afterwards, Fr Nguyen described to The Tablet how he also escaped Vietnam in 1984, by a small boat that took him to Malaysia. He was accepted by Norway where he lived for 10 year before moving to England to study for the priesthood at Allen Hall. He served in a number of parishes before moving to Bow and being appointed chaplain to London's Vietnamese community in 1999. Now aged 61, he was ordained at 39.
He said many Vietnamese are living in Britain, several thousand, where they are served by two pastoral centres in London and one in Birmingham. Although a committed Catholic in Vietnam, when he decided to leave it was not at that time possible to train for the priesthood there. At that time, though, he explained that this was not why he left as his vocation emerged later, after he had left. He said issues of freedom and corruption were what impelled him to seek a future elsewhere.
Candles were lit to read: "39". Pic: Yui Mok/PA Wire/PA Images
Fr Nguyen, according to Premier, said at the vigil: "Today we gather to remember the people who have departed. These people who used to live among us, who dined with us. Today they are no longer with us. We show our condolences and sympathies for the people who have lost their lives on the way seeking freedom, dignity and happiness.
"We ask God to welcome them into his kingdom even though some of them were not Catholic but they strongly believed in eternal peace, so we pray for them.
"We pray for those who have lost their sons and daughters, their loved ones at this very challenging time."
Fr Nguyen's church has been working with police on the disaster. Fr Nguyen has also been asking Catholics and non-Catholics to come forward with any information that might be useful. He said also that many other Vietnamese had died this way, but their deaths had received no media attention.
Fr Nguyen's celebrated at the Mass and vigil on Saturday 2 November.
The following day, Sunday 3 November, Bishop Nicholas Hudson introduced the noon Vietnamese Community Mass for the repose of the souls of the 39. He said: "As we offer mass for them we pray for all who mourn them. We pray for those who fear their relations were among the dead. We pray for the emergency services who recovered their bodies. Human trafficking is an abominable crime which needs to be eradicated. We pray for those who commit such crimes that they might , as a result of such a tragedy, have a change of heart."
And in his homily, Bishop Hudson, an auxiliary in Westminster, said of the victims: "Each of them was a unique human being known eternally to God. We know almost none of their names; yet each one them is known to God. God knows their parents, their brothers and sisters, their dearest friends who will be bereaved once their identities are confirmed. He knows all those families in Vietnam who fear it is their child, their sibling, who perished in that lorry." He also prayed for all Vietnamese living in the UK: "We ask the Lord to be close to each one of them at this time."
The Vietnamese chaplaincy is one of 35 ethnic chaplaincies in the Westminster diocese, which explains: "The Diocese of Westminster is made up of an incredibly diverse range of people from all countries and nationalities and everyone is welcome to participate in their local parish. However, in addition, the ethnic chaplaincies in the Diocese seek to provide sacramental and pastoral support for people of all languages and cultures and to help preserve and nourish the different cultural expressions of faith and community."
Fr Nguyen at the Mass and vigil to remember the 39. Pic: Yui Mok/PA Wire/PA Images
In a statement on Saturday, Vietnam's spokesman from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Le Thi Thu Hang, said: “This is a serious humanitarian tragedy. We are deeply saddened by the incident and wish to extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families. We wish they may soon overcome those tremendous pain and losses.
"From the very first days, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructed its Consular Department and the Vietnamese Embassy in the United Kingdom to work in close coordination with the relevant Vietnamese and British central and local authorities, provide all relevant information, open hotlines and promptly undertake citizen protection measures as necessary should there be any Vietnamese nationals involved in the case.
"The Embassy also forwarded the British Police’s identification documents to the Vietnamese authorities for cross-check. The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the British Police have been closely collaborating to verify the identity of the victims suspected of being Vietnamese nationals and will publish the findings as soon as possible. Vietnam strongly condemns human trafficking and considers it a serious crime subject to strict penalties. Vietnam calls upon countries in the region and around the world to step up cooperation in combating human trafficking in order to prevent the recurrence of such tragedy.
"We are grateful that the British government and other relevant authorities have actively conducted the investigation, timely provided identification information to and worked in close coordination with the Vietnamese competent authorities. We hope that the British side would soon complete the investigation to bring those responsible for this tragedy to justice.”
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