German police set sights on Vietnamese people smuggling

FRANKFURT AM MAIN: German federal police said on Monday they were stepping up European cross-border cooperation to fight Vietnamese human trafficking, after Berlin became a key hub in a network of exploitation in service industries.

Lured by jobs in Europe, Vietnamese migrants are smuggled illegally often through China or Russia, Carsten Moritz, head of the human trafficking unit of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), told public broadcaster RBB. Arrivals from Vietnam frequently work under "exploitative conditions" to pay off smuggling debts, which cost around 10,000 to 20,000 euros ($12,000 to $24,000) per person.