When hard times hit, it’s common to take out a loan to help bridge the gap. But for those living in Vietnam, the BBC reports debt can become a pipeline to modern slavery. There are no good loan options, so 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 on a pipeline 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. Aiming to stop the gangs, the UK government says it is ramping up immigration enforcement efforts.  

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