'French court seeks 10 years in prison in Vietnamese migrant truck case.'

French authorities are demanding 10-year prison sentences for four men accused in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a container truck in 2019.

A Paris court has described a vast illegal immigration network and also wants to permanently ban four Vietnamese men from entering France.

French prosecutors on Tuesday (Nov. 7) demanded 10 years in prison for four accused of manslaughter in the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in a lorry in England in October 2019. The victims, nine of whom were teenagers and two as young as 15, were loaded into a container on the back of a lorry in northern France and found dead the next day on''industrial estate in Grays, east of London by 32 kilometers.

The trial began in Paris on October 17 this year - 19 people are suspected of major roles in the migration crime. The truck traveled through France to reach Belgium, from where the crossing of the English Channel was made. Most of those facing trial in Paris are suspected of collaborating with a criminal group on the French side. They are accused of helping migrants enter France illegally and criminal activity.

Who are the defendants?

The 19 defendants in the French court include citizens of Vietnam, France, China, Algeria and Morocco, French news agency AFP reported.

French prosecutors said the four defendants "chose to exploit the economic vulnerability of their Vietnamese compatriots" by ignoring the dangers they exposed them to. "They prioritized profits by endangering victims they saw only as 'chicken' to be stacked. Some of the defendants cynically portray themselves as victims of the system," prosecutor Alexis Lieberge said in closing arguments.

Four more Vietnamese defendants will be sentenced to''nine to ten years' imprisonment. However, two of them were not present at trial and are believed to be on the run. For the other defendants, the prosecutor asked for acquittal on the conspiracy charge, but guilty of aiding and abetting the illegal entry and movement of foreigners in France as part of a criminal gang.

British and Belgian prosecutors have already tried and sentenced 23 people involved in the smuggling.

The Paris trial is scheduled to conclude on Friday.