1/10/2023 0 Comments Vip passport shopping![]() Regardless of their journeys from Vietnam, migrants have few choices beyond hiding in containers to cross the English channel. Despite the promises, VIP packages will only get migrants as far as France or Belgium, common entry points into the UK. "If I knew he was going to get on that lorry, I would have never let him go," his stricken mother said. They didn't pay for the fatal truck journey - the smuggler has since disappeared - but his family still owe the bank $4,300. But Tiep's family never heard from him again. The final instalment was due on arrival in Britain. Tiep had lived in France for a year - the family paid $17,500 to get him there via Russia. But they lied to us," the 18-year-old's mother Hoang Thi Ai told AFP from their home in Dien Thinh commune in central Nghe An province. "I heard he would go on a VIP route, in a four-seater car. Smugglers promised them that $13,000 would secure his safe passage for the final leg of his journey from France into the country. VIP promises - The family of Hoang Van Tiep believes he was one of the 39 who died in the truck in Britain. Families sell land or take on huge loans for the journeys, believing the investment will eventually pay itself back several times over. The poor central provinces of Vietnam are riddled with people smugglers and brokers with underground contacts stretching across the world. Britain has long been a prime destination for Vietnamese migrants thanks to well-entrenched criminal networks offering work - though often at lower salaries than promised. "It shows you how organised and systematised they are," Pham said. Once in the UK, they are even provided with Vietnamese lawyers and translators in the event they are caught by police. "They put you in contact directly with a group in France that helps you at that end," Chung Pham, who works with Locate International, a UK-based group that helps to find missing Vietnamese migrants in Britain told AFP. The VIP deal offers travel documents and flights to Europe, often to France, Germany or Spain, before the final passage into the UK. Faster, comfortable and supposedly safer, the "VIP package" goes for as much as $50,000 - compared to around $15,000 for so-called "grass" overland journey, according to several experts AFP spoke to. The nature of their journey depends on how much money their families can stump up. Initially identified as Chinese, many are now believed to be Vietnamese after families came forward saying they feared their relatives were in the refrigerated trailer. Details of well-oiled smuggling routes spanning Vietnam to Europe have come under renewed scrutiny after 39 people were found dead in a truck in Britain. I could of had them put in a setting for $29.95, but I passed on it.For up to $50,000, Vietnamese migrants can get the "VIP package" to Britain - flight, fake passport and even a lawyer - illegal, but billed as safer than cheaper overland routes by people smugglers who provide a menu of options for those trying to reach the UK. They might be good for people that have more than one hole in their ears, but otherwise they would be lost on one hole!! :D However, I did get two loose 1 ct sapphire stones that are real pretty. You only find that out after you shell out your sea pass card and get the book! Oh well, it was an experience for me that I have never had - next time, I know better!īy the way, all of the "free" gemstones you get - they are all little itty bitty, especially the earrings - real small studs. ![]() Also, the guy that gave the talk on the Mariner played up the fact that you got a coupon for a "FREE" taxi ride in Cozumel, but never mentioned that it was only to the shops area -no where else on the island. ![]() The free shopping bag you get from Del Sol is okay - but not worth the $20 I paid for the book. ![]() The bracelet is more like a gold charm bracelet with a small "D" charm on it - and an itty bitty tiny diamond in the center of the D. You receive a coupon to redeem at one of the Diamond International stores. I excitedly went because they give you an advertisement that says everyone that attends the talk will receive a diamond bracelet. It is all hype! Only attend if you are a serious shopper looking for expensive designer jewelry (diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, watches, gold/silver necklaces, etc.) The coupon books might be worth it for that - but not for anything else. ![]()
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