Locked up day and night, alone and suffocating from the fumes in a British cannabis factory, Vietnamese migrant Xuan was threatened with death by his traffickers if the harvest was poor.
The number of Vietnamese crossing the Channel on small boats jumped in 2024, according to figures from the U.K. interior ministry. They recorded some 3,307 Vietnamese irregular migrants from January to September, up 177% from the previous year, exceeded only by Afghans, Iranians and Syrians.
They are also among the most exposed to modern slavery, with more than 1,000 presumed victims reported to the British authorities in 2023.
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