Remains of all 39 lorry death victims returned to Vietnam

The remains of all of the 39 migrants found dead in alorry in England last month after being trafficked into the countryhave been returned to Vietnam, a government statement said Saturday. The final 23 victims were received at Hanoi airport in the morningand then transported to the central Vietnamese provinces of Nghe An,Ha Tinh and Hue, but also Hai Duong province and Hai Phong City inthe north, according to a statement from Vietnam's foreign affairsministry. "Thus, on November 27 and 30, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairscollaborated with Vietnamese and English authorities and localitiesto complete the return of the bodies and the ashes of the 39 victimsto their families."The return of those who died gives the victims' families theopportunity to hold funerals, carry out burial rituals and finallymourn.The first arrival of 16 bodies came on Wednesday, and sawrepresentatives of some of the families travel to the airport to seethe coffins, many of whom brought white roses and wept. The family of 26-year-old victim Pham Thi Tra My organized a funeralon Wednesday after she was repatriated and a burial on Thursday.My's text message to her mother saying "I'm sorry mum ... I'm dyingbecause I can't breathe" first alerted the world of the possibilitythat Vietnamese nationals could be among the dead after Britishpolice initially said that all the victims were Chinese.The Vietnamese government has offered to pay the repatriation costsupfront, but will give relatives 30 days to pay the money back withno interest.The relatives were offered two choices: either the family has to payalmost 1,800 dollars to receive their loved ones cremated as ashes,or over 2,800 dollars for the body to be sent to Hanoi airport. Someof the remains were cremated, as seen in photos of the airportarrivals.The long delay and confusion over costs of repatriation have causedextra grief for families desperate to bring their loved ones home.The news led to philanthropic responses from both concernedindividuals and companies.A page on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe has raised 30,000 dollars,while Vingroup, a Vietnamese conglomerate, has pledged to donate 800dollars to each victim's family in Nghe An and Ha Tinh.Do Thi Kim Lien, a Vietnamese businesswoman, has also been donatingfunds to the families to allow them to repatriate the bodies of theirloved ones.In the central Vietnamese provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, a totalof 11 people have been arrested for suspected involvement in thelorry death tragedy.British police have also arrested several suspects for allegedinvolvement in the tragedy, including truck driver Maurice Robinson,who pleaded guilty to aiding illegal immigration, but said he was notguilty of the 39 counts of manslaughter he has been charged with.The bodies of the Vietnamese migrants were discovered in the back ofa refrigerated lorry on October 23 in Essex, in south-east England.Hundreds of Vietnamese are trafficked to Britain each year, accordingto the charity Ecpat.