Nam (name changed) had to wait 12 years before he could return from Europe to his parents in Vietnam. He couldn't return earlier because he had lived illegally in Germany and lacked the necessary papers to travel freely.   

As a young man in search of a better life, he had decided to try his luck in Europe in 2012.

The then 20-year-old and his family borrowed money to pay human traffickers.

Nam was smuggled into Germany via Russia and lived the life of a "naked person," a term used in Vietnamese chat groups on Facebook like Luật Pháp Đức (German law) to describe illegal and undocumented migrants.

In such groups, people can pose questions anonymously, including queries related to accessing health care, travel outside Germany, marriage and divorce.

Not an isolated case

Nam's story is not an isolated case, as human trafficking from Vietnam to Europe has become a significant problem in recent years, even though the full extent of the issue remains unclear.

European authorities are cracking down on smuggling rings, but they haven't been entirely successful.

The issue of human trafficking from Vietnam came to the fore in October 2019 when 39 Vietnamese nationals were discovered suffocated in a refrigerated truck parked outside an industrial estate in the UK county of Essex.

Several of the victims were believed to have been smuggled into Europe to work as forced laborers.

In response, the European Union, in collaboration with Europol and Interpol, decided in 2021 to focus more on fightiing human trafficking. In Germany, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) initiated a four-year research project to better understand the people-smuggling networks and methods involving Vietnamese nationals.

The BKA found in its analysis that the abuse and suffering experienced by male and female victims vary, with men generally facing labor exploitation while women are significantly more likely to be sexually exploited.

Silence is a challenge 

The victims usually remain silent, which is one of the reasons why little is known of these crimes, the law enforcement agency said. It's striking, for instance, that none of the Vietnamese victims in the BKA's research sample pressed charges.

"Victims experience a very serious violation, namely that of their human rights. But victims often do not seem to perceive themselves as such," Tanja Cornelius, a researcher at the BKA's Organized Crime, Economic Crime, and Cybercrime Research Unit, told DW.

Nicole Baumann, chief superintendent at the BKA who has been working in the field of human trafficking for over 20 years, said that victims' silence poses a challenge. "Criminal proceedings are hardly possible without victim statements," she pointed out.

As a result, many crimes remain undetected and unpunished. 

Similar interests and goals

Cornelius pointed to the "perfidious situation" of the victims, whose goals, in a way, run parallel to those of the perpetrators.

Research in criminal psychology reveals that victims, not traffickers, fear being caught and losing all their money and effort.

"People probably often assume that there will be a few very hard years full of deprivation at first," Baumann said, adding that they remain under the radar while working hard with the hope of paying off the debt and getting "papers" quickly. This helps the perpetrators, who also have an interest in remaining unnoticed, she noted.

That many victims see it as an opportunity is reflected in the fact that they borrow huge sums of money and take on significant risk to embark on the journey to reach Germany.

It's estimated that people smugglers charge anywhere between €10,000 ($10,500) and €23,000 per migrant, an enormous amount considering that the monthly per-capita income in the Southeast Asian country amounts to just around €190, according to government data.

The vast sum and high risk don't seem to deter many Vietnamese, as they remain willing to pay the price in pursuit of their dreams of a better life.

What role do societal factors play?

Peer pressure also plays a role.

Vietnam currently boasts many municipalities with high-rise buildings and villas of the nouveau rich imitating European architecture with pillars and tympanums. There are a number of "VND billionaire villages" where many residents became enormously rich thanks to labor exports and remittances from foreign workers.

Several of these places have been nicknamed "Seoul" or "Europe" because a significant number of people from these areas work abroad.

Young Vietnamese from these so-called "villages of tycoons," like Nam, face strong pressure from family and wider society to succeed, like others who have managed to migrate to Europe.

Some Vietnamese people smugglers and organizations that facilitate work visas also use social media to disseminate images of expensive cars, luxury trips or fancy, brand-name clothing to influence people's decision to migrate.

"Wealth is communicated on social media, and this also creates a false image. There is hardly any information about failures," Baumann said. 

Social factors also play a role in ensuring the victims remain silent. Pressure to succeed leads Vietnamese victims to refrain from sharing their failures or struggles, including harsh working conditions or sexual exploitation.

Some are also willing to go to great lengths and endure any hardship to support their family.

The 2019 Essex case, however, proved a turning point, with several trafficking victims anonymously sharing their stories after that tragedy. While the disaster drew plenty of media coverage in the immediate aftermath, the focus slowly faded away.

Considering all the factors, in the case of human trafficking involving Vietnamese, violence is believed to play a subordinate role, with perpetrators usually relying on social pressure and family expectations instead of threats and intimidation.

Need for legal migration

Cornelius and Baumann, the BKA officials, emphasize that their project and research outcome are not about criminalizing a community.

Most migration from Vietnam is legal and welcome, as an aging German society needs qualified workers from Vietnam.

Recognizing the need for Vietnamese labor, the governments of both countries recently inked an agreement to boost skilled immigration.

Nam said there will always be a small number of people who will try the illegal route.

In some cases, and especially in illegal contexts, there are perceived benefits.

"They don't need to learn German, and, more importantly, they can make more money immediately. For some poorly educated Vietnamese from villages with little economic prospects, this decision makes sense," Nam added.  

What needs to be done? 

Combating criminal activities and people-smuggling requires an effort by society as a whole, with officials from both Vietnam and Germany working closely together.

Vietnam has just released its Migration Profile 2023 report, cooperating with global agencies like Interpol and considering joining the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air — which supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime — to promote border management cooperation and fight and prevent transnational crime.

Baumann stressed that education and raising awareness remain key, especially targeting those who are likely to fall victim to human trafficking. Individuals and families can only make the right decisions if they know what the situation in Germany is like for illegal migrants, the official noted.

There are, however, legal ways to migrate, which every Vietnamese can find out about at the German Embassy in Vietnam. It may be more time-consuming, but it is a safer option. 

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru