Two men, one Chinese and the other Japanese, were sentenced to a year and three months in prison each for attempting to bring four Vietnamese into Europe illegally. 

Lu Yu, 38, and Nagasawa Kazuaki, 62, were charged with "organizing, brokering illegal emigration," and will be deported from Vietnam after completing their sentences, the court in Hanoi ruled Friday.

Three other Vietnamese suspects involved were given suspended sentences of between 12 and 15 months.

Five people are at a trial in Hanoi for attempting to bring people
to Europe illegally, August 14, 2020. Photo by Vietnam News Agency.

According to the indictment, Chinese suspect Zhu Yanhua, identified as the ring leader, established an overseas study consulting firm in October 2018 as a cover to organize illegal emigration for Vietnamese citizens who were charged $20,000 each.

Three Vietnamese accomplices were responsible for sourcing customers. Between April and October 2019, Yanhua’s company had received four Vietnamese clients who wished to travel to Germany and France as tourists and then illegally remain to seek jobs.

On October 26, Yu and Nagasa traveled to the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi to provide the four clients passports with Schengen visas to enter Europe. However, security officers at the airport found the visas were fake and they were not allowed to fly.

Yu and Nagasa were later detained by officers. Based on their testimonies, police captured other members of the ring.

However, Yanhua escaped into Laos and is currently wanted by Vietnamese police.

In recent years, many Vietnamese illegally working in Europe have had to pay a lot of money to consulting firms or brokers since they were not familiar with procedures. Some firms promised to find them jobs.