When hard times hit, taking out a loan is standard to help bridge the gap. But for many living in Vietnam, the BBC reports that debt can become a pipeline to modern slavery. When no good loan options exist, people turn to loan sharks who charge high interest rates. These unscrupulous lenders are working together with traffickers. When the loan comes due, if they can’t pay, they or their family members find themselves fast-tracked to modern slavery.
Father’s lung cancer lands children in slavery
When Nam (not his real name) and his family got the news his father had lung cancer, they were devastated. They took out a loan to help cover the loss of his income, but when the loan came due, they still couldn’t pay. The gang forced Nam and his sister to go abroad to work until the debt was repaid. Forced to work 19 hours a day on a cannabis farm in the UK, Nam was regularly beaten with no chance of escape.
Nam is still dealing with the physical and mental trauma of the experience, he said:
“I could have died in there without anyone knowing. I don’t know when I will fully recover.”
Police eventually found Nam, but sadly, his experience is not unusual. Last year alone, of the 3,602 Vietnamese migrants who arrived in the UK by small boat, nearly a third were identified as potential victims of modern slavery.
Arrived as a student, then forced into slavery
Another young man from Vietnam, Van (not his real name), arrived in the UK legally as a student. But loans taken out by his family in Vietnam prevented him from leaving when his student visa was up. The loan sharks said he would need to work for two years without pay to repay his parent’s debt.
Van said:
“They threatened to beat me and threatened that my family in Vietnam would not be able to live in peace.”
When Van was initially rescued, law enforcement didn’t believe he was a victim of human trafficking. They planned to deport him back to Vietnam. That was fine with Van until he remembered why he had gotten trapped in slavery to begin with.
Van shared:
“Then I realized that we were still in debt, the gangsters would still come to find me in Vietnam, they would still make my life, and my family’s life, miserable. I didn’t want to live at that point”.
There is also a risk that potential victims may be “misidentified, criminalized, and denied access” to the support they need, according to the Salvation Army. For Van and Nam, the systems in place are now working well. They received a referral from the National Referral Mechanism. That means they have the support of local charities while their claims are processed. For many others, the path out of slavery is still uncertain.
Freedom United stands beside The Salvation Army and other organizations calling on the UK government and governments everywhere to do more to ensure safe migration and improve reporting and referral mechanisms for victims of modern slavery. The criminalization of victims and migrants only enables exploitation to continue. If you haven’t already, sign our petition calling for genuine anti-trafficking immigration policies.
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