冷凍貨櫃車絕望中窒息死去的39具遺體—偷渡移民的悲歌

日前英國發生39名疑似偷渡客凍死在貨櫃車的事件，這起震驚全球的偷渡案發後第一時間被英媒報導為死者全是中國籍，後來又傳出有越南籍的死者，也陸續有越南籍家屬出面指認，陳屍在那座冰棺裡的可能是自己要「移民英國」的親友，一直到這兩日才幾乎確認死者有可能均是越南籍。

親友指出，他們生前最後一刻曾在手機留下訣別訊息，如26 歲女子范氏茶嵋：「媽，對不起，我的出國之路失敗了。媽，我真的好愛妳。我就要死了，因為我已經不能呼吸。我來自越南河靜省干祿縣元鎮。對不起，媽。」。

然而，無論是何國籍，究竟是什麼樣的推力使得他們願意遠渡重洋，以非法的手段也要投奔異鄉，以及非法偷渡背後的艱辛與困境，才是我們需要探討的問題。這次的死者多來自越南河靜、義安二省，也是越南數一數二貧窮的二個省份，在這裡幾乎每個人都認識某位踏上這段移民之路的親友，歐洲對他們說就是個夢幻的粉紅泡泡，在那裡非法工作可以讓他們賺到在家鄉一輩子都賺不來的薪水，儘管漫漫長路昂貴又危險，為了擁有更美好的生活及更多的希望，風險再高也是值得的。

偷渡的移民僅憑著人蛇集團的不實宣傳，與過去曾偷渡海外工作的親友的成功案例，夢想著來到英國能享受月薪破十萬的待遇，許多人不惜背負巨額貸款、抵押房屋或向親友借錢來支付這筆高額偷渡費。然而，他們對於歐洲工作的現實缺乏認知，即便是透過合法途徑前往工作，他們來自貧窮的國度，教育水平與自身能力相對缺乏，即便到了他們口中的「黃金之國」，多數也僅能從是低薪工作 ，其中不乏慘遭剝削，被迫違法種植大麻、從事賣淫工作，甚至如同這次貨櫃屍案一般，尚未享受甜美的果實便在驚恐中客死異鄉。

以服務移工的角度來看，偷渡並非個人想望，而是在絕望處境下唯一可承受的選擇，學者曾指出，這不僅是個人選擇，更牽涉到國際間的推力與拉力，在家鄉無法獲取足夠的經濟來源，亦難以取得合法管道到海外工作，只得冒險偷渡。包裹著高薪的糖衣，偷渡移工首先必須面臨語言隔閡、文化適應與生病就醫困難等問題，再者，非法的工作自然沒有合理的條約，遇到問題只能任由仲介肆意剝削，薪資、工作安全等權益無法獲得保障。

台灣多年來對失聯移工的討論，大多將矛頭指向移工想要多賺錢或是只要是失聯就是移工的不對，甚至是容易犯罪的危險人物。退一步想，沒有勞動剝削，誰願意冒著被逮捕遣返的風險逃跑，若非貧窮到極限，又有誰想離鄉背井只為了做最底層的工作呢？

「在越南時，我以為歐洲是粉色的，但結果其實是黑色。」這是這起英國貨櫃屍案罹難者Nhung在德國柏林寫下的文字，童話故事原來只是虛幻的泡沫，夢想破滅的同時更賠上了生命。在指責失聯移工和偷渡移民的同時，別忘了非法仲介、人蛇集團和違法雇主才是始作俑者，沒有需要就沒有地下黑工和販運 ! 人權立國不是政治口號更不是崇高理想，而是讓一同生活在這片可愛的土地上的大家，彼此多一點同理，少一點指責，多一分關心，少一分歧視，我們伸出手的一小步，都是維護生命價值的一大步，一起關懷吧~ shall we?

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Thirty-nine Bodies Suffocated in Despair in a Refrigerated Container Truck: The Lament of The Smuggled Migrant Workers

Recently a total of 39 suspected stowaways froze to death in a container truck in Britain. This case, which shocked the world, was first reported by British media that all the dead were of Chinese nationality. Later, some of the dead were believed to be Vietnamese, and some Vietnamese family members also came toward to identify that the bodies in the ice coffin could be their relatives who wanted to "emigrate to Britain." Not until these two days was it almost certain that the dead were all Vietnamese.

Relatives and friends said that the victims had left farewell messages on their phones before their death, take the 26-yeard-old lady, Fan Chia-Mei, for instance, “ Mom, I feel so sorry. I failed in my attempt to go abroad. Mom, I love you so really much. I'm going to die because I can't breathe. I come from yuan town, Ganlu City, Ha Tinh Province, Vietnam. I'm sorry, mom.”

No matter what nationality they were, the most important thing is to discuss what was the impetus that made them willing to cross the ocean, to go to a foreign country by illegal means, as well as the hardships and obstacles behind illegal smuggling. Most of the dead were from Vietnam's Ha Tinh and Ngai 'an provinces, which are two of the country's poorest provinces. Almost everyone there knew someone who had made the immigration to Europe, where they regarded as dreamy pink bubbles. Working illegally there allowed them to earn salaries they would have never earned back home, and although the long trip was expensive and dangerous, it was worth the risk in order to have a better life and more hope.

With the false propaganda of the human smuggling group and the successful cases of relatives and friends who used to work abroad, the migrants dreamed of coming to Britain and enjoying a salary of over 100,000 dollars a month. Even though they had to take out huge loans, mortgage their houses or borrow money from friends and relatives, many were still willing to pay the high fees so as to successfully smuggle. However, they lacked awareness of the realities of working in Europe. They came from poor countries with relatively little education and ability, which left them with only low-paid jobs even if they got jobs through legal means or went to what they called “the golden country.” Some of them were exploited, forced to grow marijuana illegally, engaged in prostitution, or even died in a foreign land before enjoying the sweetness of the result, as in this case.

From the perspective of serving migrant workers, smuggling is not an individual aspiration, but the only affordable option in a desperate situation. Scholars have pointed out that this is not only a personal choice, but also an international push and pull. Unable to secure adequate financial support at homeland or legal access to work overseas, they risk being smuggled across the border. Smuggling jobs are sugar-coated with high salaries: first of all, migrant workers must face problems such as language barrier, acculturation and medical difficulties. Furthermore, there’s no reasonable treaty for illegal job. When they encounter problems, they can only be arbitrarily exploited by intermediaries, and their rights and interests such as salary and work safety cannot be guaranteed.

Over the years, most of the discussions about the missing migrant workers in Taiwan have focused on the statement that the migrant workers want to make more money or that it is wrong for them to lose contact with the migrant workers, or even claimed that they are dangerous people who are easy to commit crimes. Take a step back, if it is without labor exploitation, who wants to take the risk of being arrested and repatriated? If they were not pushed to the limit of poverty, who would leave home to work at the bottom of the heap? 

“In Vietnam, I thought Europe would be pink（shiny and bright）, but it turned out to be black（dark）.” These are the words written by Nhung, the victim of the British container death, in Berlin, Germany. Fairy tales turned out to be illusionary bubbles, their dream disillusioned and vanished into the air. At the meantime, they also lost their lives. While blaming the missing migrant workers and illegal migrants, do not ignore the fact that illegal agencies, human traffickers and illegal employers are whom to blame. If migrant workers are not suffered from their desperate situations, there will be no illegal working opportunities and human trafficking! Human right is neither a political slogan nor a lofty ideal, but it is what let us who live together on this lovely land to empathy more, blame less, care for each other more and discriminate less. A small step we stretch out is actually a giant step to maintain the value of life. So give a little more care, shall we!