Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by trusol

BYD Steals the Show at Bangkok Motor

trusol — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:19:33 +0800

Bangkok Motor Show 2025 - Top Vehicle Bookings:

BYD: 9,819 units (excluding Denza)
TOYOTA: 9,615 units
GAC: 7,018 units
DEEPAL: 6,067 units
HONDA: 5,948 units

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/automobile/40048440

Traditional vaccines may prevent severe disease

trusol — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 16:12:50 +0800

Traditional vaccines like Sinovac may prevent severe disease in Covid-19 patients: Study

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/heal...-patients-study

QUOTE

The study, which was published in medical journal Cell Reports Medicine in October, found that mRNA vaccines can induce T-cells targeting SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein, which contains numerous mutations in the Omicron variant.

However, inactivated vaccines stimulated a broad T-cell response not only against the virus’ spike protein but also the membrane and nucleoprotein, which have much fewer mutations in the Omicron variant.

Unlike the mRNA vaccines, the inactivated vaccines did not seem to generate cytotoxic CD8 cells – T-cells known for their ability to kill virus-infected cells. Instead, they mainly stimulated a type of T-cell called CD4, or “helper” T-cells. When these helper cells recognise a viral antigen, they release cytokines – chemicals that help activate other types of immune cells.

The broader response provided by inactivated vaccines, in generating T-cell responses towards other viral proteins, could be beneficial, said the study’s senior author, Professor Antonio Bertoletti, from Duke-NUS’ Emerging Infectious Diseases programme.

The advantage of using the whole virus approach is finally acknowledged now that it is widely known no vaccine could prevent infection because of the rise of so many variants.

Thailand's protein subunit vaccine

trusol — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 16:36:09 +0800

Same tech as Novavax (US) and Anhui Zhifei Longcom (China).

Looks like inactivated, mRNA and viral vector vaccines slowly going out of fashion.

Vaccine developed by Thai startup to be tested on humans in September

Which China vaccine was Dr M referring to?

trusol — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 20:11:39 +0800

Citing success in China, Dr Mahathir wants unapproved Covid-19 vaccine approved for Langkawi residents

QUOTE

KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Langkawi MP Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he has been offered an unapproved Covid-19 vaccine for 70,000 Langkawi residents in order to help the struggling tourist island.

Without naming the source or the name of the vaccine, he claimed the plan will reduce the number of cases in Langkawi as well as help the residents who are struggling after tourism dried up during the pandemic.

“We hope the government will give us the approval, we were told the vaccine was used in China where 170 million has been given the dose.

“The vaccine is also effective against the normal and Delta variant of Covid-19,” he told an online press conference.

When asked if the vaccine is Sinovac, Dr Mahathir did not answer, merely saying that the vaccine is still unapproved in Malaysia.

He then suggested speedy approval, claiming clinical trials will take too long.

“I was told this vaccine is capable of immunising against the Covid-19 Delta variant. So it is specific and has already been used in China but in Malaysia it has not yet been approved. If you want to do research, it takes a lot of time.

“We don’t have much time so we hope the authorities approve this vaccine,” he said.

Currently, the only vaccines approved by authorities in Malaysia are those manufactured by Pfizer-BioNtech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinovac, CanSino and Johnson & Johnson with the last two still undeployed.

Other vaccines pending approval are those by Novavex, Calameya, Sinopharm, Moderna and Anhui-Zhefei.

Current list of approved Covid-19 vaccines in China:

1. Sinopharm-BBIBP
2. CoronaVac by Sinovac
3. Convidecia by CanSino
4. Sinopharm-WIBP
5. Zifivax/ZF2001 by Anhui Zhifei Longcom
6. KCONVAC by Kangtai
7. Covidful by IMBCAMS

Thailand also allowing private vaccines

trusol — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 19:36:05 +0800

Thai businesses to offer COVID shots to wealthy and companies

Country lets private sector import vaccines to supplement national scheme

March 9, 2021 12:22 JST
BANGKOK -- Private hospitals and drugmakers in Thailand are seeking approval from the government to import several COVID-19 vaccines independently to meet demand from wealthy Thais and companies that want to receive their choice of shots as quickly as possible.

Under the government's vaccination program that kicked off March 1, only two vaccines, made by China's Sinovac and the U.K.'s AstraZeneca, will be distributed through public hospital networks free of charge. Private businesses now want to offer fast-track inoculations for those who are willing to pay.

The government is taking a flexible stance on vaccine imports by the private sector, and at least one U.S.-headquartered pharmaceutical company and a hospital operator so far have applied for import licenses.

"We are wide open to other private companies to import vaccines, as it would help accelerate the progress of our inoculation program," Paisal Dunkhum, secretary-general of Thailand's Food and Drug Administration told Nikkei Asia. "The more Thais are vaccinated, the faster the Thai economy will be revived," Paisal added.

A single dose of the vaccine is expected to cost about 2,000 to 4,000 baht ($65 to $130). Most of the vaccines available so far require two doses, which means that each person will have to pay between $130 and $260. The Department of Internal Trade will closely monitor pricing, a senior official said.

Thailand's move follows that of Pakistan which reportedly allowed three companies to import vaccines last month with an aim of supplementing the national vaccination program. However, it has been pointed out that it is unfair for the rich to have preferential access to vaccines and that there is a risk that a black market could form.

Indonesia will also allow companies to purchase vaccines to inoculate their workers, after approving a private program to run alongside its national scheme last month. More emerging countries that do not have sufficient supplies of vaccines may choose to allow the private sector to import them.

The Thai government so far has secured only 63 million doses, or about 45% the amount needed to inoculate the country's 69 million people. Many citizens are concerned that they do not know when they will be inoculated.

That leaves considerable opportunities for private companies and hospitals, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a unit of U.S.-based Johnson & Johnson, has become the first company to apply to the FDA for a license to import the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Principal Capital, a Bangkok-based hotelier and private hospital operator, is also seeking to offer other types of vaccines to wealthy Thais, particularly in regions outside Bangkok. "We have submitted all the documents to the FDA," said Satit Viddayakorn, managing director of Principal Capital.

Companies applying for import licenses must submit detailed information from the manufacturer to the FDA, including the type of vaccine, how it is made, how it is administered and potential side effects. The process is expected to take at least a month.

Every lot of imported vaccine then must undergo a quality check by the Public Health Ministry. Once that process, which is expected to take a few weeks, is complete, the vaccines can be distributed to hospitals.

The Thai unit of Bharat Biotech, an Indian vaccine producer, is expected to submit an application to import its vaccine by mid-March. Major private hospital chains are thinking of seeking vaccine import licenses, according to a source at the Private Hospital Association.

Thonburi Healthcare Group, a Bangkok-based listed hospital chain with nearly 1,000 registered beds at seven hospitals around the country, is in talks with several big companies, particularly tourism-related businesses, including five-star hotel operators, who want their employees inoculated so they can reopen, Boon Vanasin, the group's chairman told Nikkei.

"After talking to those big companies, we found that vaccine demand... was more than 10 million doses, excluding affluent Thais who are willing to pay a higher price for better quality vaccines and services," the chairman said.

"On the other hand, we [private hospitals] can also be a part of the government's effort to distribute vaccines to Thai people across the country in order to get herd immunity," he added.

In February, the chairman of Bangkok-based hotel and restaurant operator Minor International urged the government to designate hotel employees a priority group for vaccination to help boost the tourism industry, which has been hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government has yet to respond to the request. The fast-track services offered by private businesses offer an alternative.

Yong Poovorawan, chief of the Centre of Excellence in Clinical Virology at Chulalongkorn University, said it was acceptable for private hospitals to import vaccines as they could help distribute the jabs to more Thais, a move that will in turn create herd immunity.

"I think the way to get 70% of Thai population vaccinated is a goal that we should care about because it is the way to help Thailand open up and restart its economy again and that would benefit all of us," Yong told Nikkei.

"If the rich are willing to pay higher for better choices as they don't want to queue up at the public hospital, it should be as they wish," he added.

Germany's vaccine response 'a disaster'

trusol — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 18:59:47 +0800

Germany should have led the world at handling the pandemic. But experts slam Merkel's vaccine response as a disaster

QUOTE

But since it administered its first shot in December, Germany has only vaccinated around 6% of the population, with around 5 million first doses and 3 million second doses administered.

Part of the problem is that Germany has only been offering shots at specific vaccine centers and not at doctors' offices -- unlike in the United Kingdom, where local doctors have been vaccinating people for months, and where more than 30% of the population has received a first dose.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has admitted to failings with the speed of the vaccine rollout and said Wednesday that doctors' offices should be able to vaccinate patients by the end of March.
Katzenstein notes there are around 50,000 general practitioners' offices in Germany and "it's a lot easier for patients to reach their own doctor."

Our gov has plans for vaccination centers too, which has proven to be a failure in Germany, and still couldn't decide if private clinics and pharmacies should be involved and if private vaccines are allowed or not.

At least the Indonesians quickly decided that private vaccinations are allowed to speed up vaccination by businesses to revive the economy. I never expected the Indonesians to be quicker in decision making after seeing their earlier blunders in the beginning of the pandemic.

European countries asking for Sinopharm

trusol — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 22:04:11 +0800

After Serbia and Hungary received their Sinopharm vaccines, Poland and now Czech Republic are also asking for help from Xi Jinping to supply to them the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.

Czech president asks China for Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine

Meanwhile, Sinopharm is boosting output:

China's Sinopharm to raise vaccine production to 3 billion per year

I wonder what happened to the half a million doses of Sinopharm vaccine gift from UAE?

UAE’s 500,000 vaccine gift a G2G offer

Sinovac's COVID-19 shot is 83% effective,

trusol — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 17:59:59 +0800

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavir...-91-Turkey-says

March 4, 2021 00:28 JST

ISTANBUL -- Researchers in Turkey on Wednesday reported an efficacy rate of 83.5% for the coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech based on final Phase 3 clinical trial results there, down from 91.25% announced in late December from interim results.

Professor Serhat Unal, a member of Turkey's COVID-19 advisory board and a leader of the clinical trial, told Nikkei Asia that data was used from 10,030 volunteers in the study out of 10,216 participants. The interim results covered only 1,322 volunteers. The final rate of 83.5% is based on 41 infections, in which 32 of the individuals had received a placebo.

The efficacy was derived from the rate of volunteers who returned a positive result in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and also developed at least one COVID-19 symptom such as fever, cough or headache at least 14 days after receiving the second dose.

Sinovac's CoronaVac vaccine was 100% effective in preventing severe illness that led to hospitalization, researchers said. All six hospitalized participants were in the placebo group. The trial age group ranged from 18 to 59, said researchers, who noted they have concluded no study of CoronaVac regarding mutations of the coronavirus.

"I can tell the international community confidently that the vaccine is effective and safe," Unal told Nikkei.

Yet Sinovac announced on Feb. 5 that Phase 3 clinical trials by Brazil's Butantan Institute on over 12,000 health care workers showed a general efficacy rate of 50.65%. The results in Brazil also showed efficacy of 83.7% for cases requiring medical treatment and 100% for hospitalization as well as severe and fatal cases.

The discrepancy in results coming from studies in different countries prompted criticism.

"Unlike global pharmaceutical companies' centralized clinical trial protocols, Chinese vaccine producers left the clinical trial protocol setting to each applier country's discretion," said professor Ali Yagiz Uresin, head of pharmacology and the clinical pharmacology department at Istanbul University's Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. This approach produced "very different scopes, volunteer profiles and case definitions, which caused very different clinical trial results in different countries, confusing public opinion."

"Unlike Turkey, Brazil's CoronaVac Phase 3 clinical trial was carried out entirely on health care workers, who are much exposed to the coronavirus," Uresin said. "Moreover, in Brazil's case there is a general efficacy segment which was slightly above the 50% mark, showing all PCR positive results, while Turkey's study is based on PCR positive cases as well as showing at least one symptom. Indeed, both Turkish and Brazilian studies show the vaccine is efficient and results are actually similar."

Turkey so far has received 15 million doses of the vaccine from Sinovac, out of a contract for 100 million doses through the end of May.

Turkish authorities gave emergency use approval for CoronaVac in January, following the interim results in late December. Turkey has given over 9.4 million doses to nearly 7.3 million of the country's 83 million residents.

Indonesia to secure Sinopharm vaccine

trusol — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 18:49:48 +0800

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/i...te-use-14279166

QUOTE

The private plan has been pushed by Indonesian business as a way for companies to buy vaccines from the government so that their employees can be vaccinated in order to help prop up the country's battered economy.

The private plan is due to use alternative vaccines from the ones currently being used and the government is preparing a regulation.

What do you think? Should we have the same strategy like Indonesia to speed things up?

Sinovac efficacy increase 20%

trusol — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 15:43:43 +0800

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/202...-confusing-data

QUOTE

Nearly 1,400 of the 13,000 people who took part in clinical trials of Sinovac’s vaccine, called CoronaVac, received their doses three weeks apart, while most of the volunteers in the Brazil-based trials got the second jab two weeks after the first. The protection rate for the smaller group was nearly 20 percentage points higher than the 50.4% rate observed in the majority, Sinovac said in a written response to Bloomberg News.

Looks like Sinovac's Brazil trials was hurriedly conducted. Originally tested with 4 weeks interval in Phases 1 and 2 but in Phase 3 they used 2 weeks interval. Luckily got some participants took the vaccine slightly late.

Philippines has just approved a Phase 3 trials by Sinovac. I hope they test efficacy levels with different and longer intervals of 4 weeks and 6 weeks apart.

Other vaccine maker also in learning process - Pfizer and AstraZeneca also increased their vaccination intervals to boost efficacy.

https://www.thestar.com.my/aseanplus/aseanp...dosing-interval

QUOTE

UK regulators have said a Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford University is more effective when there is a longer gap between doses than initially envisaged.

Britain has also decided to allow a longer gap between doses of a Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech , even though the companies say they only have efficacy data for a shorter period between shots.

Pfizer's efficacy only 29% ?

trusol — Wed, 13 Jan 2021 06:35:12 +0800

This is getting confusing

From this article about Sinovac:

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/art...efficacy-chinas

QUOTE

Phase 3 trial data for the US-based Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, for example, gives a 95 per cent efficacy rate. However, out of the 44,000 volunteers there were 3,410 participants who displayed Covid-19 symptoms but were not tested, according to a US Food and Drug Administration report. In the unlikely event that all these participants tested positive, the total efficacy rate would drop to below 30 per cent.

A little bit of digging comes up with this:

https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/01/04/peter-...d-the-raw-data/

QUOTE

All attention has focused on the dramatic efficacy results: Pfizer reported 170 PCR confirmed covid-19 cases, split 8 to 162 between vaccine and placebo groups. But these numbers were dwarfed by a category of disease called “suspected covid-19”—those with symptomatic covid-19 that were not PCR confirmed. According to FDA’s report on Pfizer’s vaccine, there were “3410 total cases of suspected, but unconfirmed covid-19 in the overall study population, 1594 occurred in the vaccine group vs. 1816 in the placebo group.”

With 20 times more suspected than confirmed cases, this category of disease cannot be ignored simply because there was no positive PCR test result. Indeed this makes it all the more urgent to understand. A rough estimate of vaccine efficacy against developing covid-19 symptoms, with or without a positive PCR test result, would be a relative risk reduction of 19% (see footnote)—far below the 50% effectiveness threshold for authorization set by regulators. Even after removing cases occurring within 7 days of vaccination (409 on Pfizer’s vaccine vs. 287 on placebo), which should include the majority of symptoms due to short-term vaccine reactogenicity, vaccine efficacy remains low: 29%

Pharmaniaga to manufacture Sinovac vaccine

trusol — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 16:59:42 +0800

https://www.thestar.com.my/business/busines...-starting-march

QUOTE

Meanwhile, Khairy said the agreement between Pharmaniaga and Sinovac was a private initiative.

"We have facilitated this because we have given an indication to Pharmaniaga that we are interested in the Sinovac vaccine.

"Now the government's procurement (of) part of it, hopefully, will be concluded by next week," he added.

Does this mean Covid-19 vaccines may be available at private clinics and hospitals? Sounds like good news for those who wish to choose (but must pay) the type of vaccine to take.

Vaccine Efficacy Rate Calculation

trusol — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 23:26:55 +0800

See how they do the calculation:

[YOUTUBE]huFLxbBw9OM[/YOUTUBE]

With vaccine: 0.036% infected.
With placebo: 0.74% infected.
Efficacy rate: 95.1%

But efficacy rate is not the same as effectiveness.

Current trial protocols expect to wait for certain number of participants to get infected on their own, not intentionally exposing them to the virus, which I think is not very accurate and also maybe have to wait too long to get a new vaccine approved. If pandemics happen too often in the future, I think we might have to consider setting aside some ethical issues. Just use 100 volunteer death row prisoners to test, for example, and participants get life sentences instead.

List of Vaccines Procured

trusol — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 02:03:55 +0800

20% from Pfizer-BioNTech;
10% from Oxford-AstraZeneca;
10% from the WHO Covax facility;
21.9% from Sinovac;
10.9% from CanSinoBIO;
10% from Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

The COVID-19 Vaccine Is Free & Voluntary For M’sians, Plus 6 Other Facts To Know About It

Sinovac's Vaccine is 78% effective

trusol — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 02:00:50 +0800

A Second Chinese Coronavirus Vaccine Is Said to Be Effective
Sinovac Biotech has sold more than 300 million doses to the developing world, filling a gap left by Western countries.

Brazilian officials said Thursday that a coronavirus vaccine made by a Chinese company was effective, bolstering the chances of approval for a second Chinese inoculation that could be rolled out in much of the developing world.

Officials in the state of São Paulo, where a prominent medical research institute carried out a large study of the vaccine made by the Beijing-based Sinovac, said the inoculation had an efficacy rate of 78 percent.

The vaccine prevented all participants from developing serious and mild complications from the virus, officials said, calling it a highly effective preventive tool.

In anticipation of approval, the vaccine, called CoronaVac, has already been shipped around the world as countries prepare for mass inoculation campaigns. Sinovac has sold more than 300 million doses, mostly to low- and middle-income countries, accounting for about half of the total doses that China says vaccine makers were capable of producing in 2020, based on an analysis of company statements and media reports.

Full report:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/business...ne-sinovac.html

China gives its first Covid-19 vaccine approval

trusol — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 16:26:20 +0800

BEIJING (Dec 31): China approved its first COVID-19 vaccine for general public use on Thursday, a shot developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, as it braces for greater transmission risks over the winter.

No detailed efficacy data of the vaccine has been publicly released but its developer, Beijing Biological Products Institute, a unit of Sinopharm subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), said on Wednesday its vaccine was 79.34% effective in preventing people from developing the disease based on interim data.

The approval, announced by the National Medical Products Administration, comes after the United Arab Emirates this month became the first country to roll out the vaccine to the public, and as Pakistan announced a 1.2 million dose purchase deal with Sinopharm.

A Sinopharm executive told a briefing detailed data would be released later and published in scientific journals at home and abroad.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/chin...roval-sinopharm

The first inactivated vaccine approved by China. I hope Malaysia can get this vaccine as an option for easier roll-out. Pfizer's mRNA vaccine is not for me - too many long-term unknowns.

Sinopharm 79.34% prevention effective

trusol — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 15:24:28 +0800

A vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) has been found to be 79.34 per cent effective against Covid-19, according to an interim analysis, the company said.

The vaccine was shown to be safe, and participants receiving the two-dose course produced a high level of antibodies against the virus at a rate of 99.52 per cent, according to a statement posted on Wednesday by the company’s subsidiary Beijing Institute of Biological Products – which has also formally submitted an application to China’s regulators for conditional listing, it said.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/art...-nearly-80-cent

I hope China authorities approve this vaccine as soon as possible - the developing world needs inactivated vaccines, not mRNA vaccines.

Efficacy of Sinovac's vaccine is 91.25%

trusol — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 02:25:02 +0800

Turkey says China's CoronaVac efficacy 91.25%, likely to increase

ANKARA (Reuters) - A COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech is 91.25% effective and the rate is likely to increase based on late-stage trial data, Turkish researchers said on Thursday, as the country becomes the second trial site to produce results for the Chinese candidate.

The researchers, part of the government’s science council, said no major symptoms were detected during CoronaVac’s trials in Turkey, apart from one person who became allergic.

Turkey had agreed to procure 50 million doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac by Dec. 11 but the shipment had been delayed. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said the vaccines would arrive in Turkey on Monday, adding that Turkey would vaccinate some 9 million people in the first group, starting with health workers.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-c...a-idUSKBN28Y1R1

[@DJJD], any comment?

2 Californians died of coronavirus weeks before

trusol — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 01:37:50 +0800

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/us/calif...n-us/index.html

(CNN)New autopsy results show two Californians died of coronavirus in early and mid-February -- up to three weeks before the previously known first US death from the virus.

These deaths now stand as the country's earliest two attributed to the novel coronavirus, a development that appears to shift the understanding of how early the virus was spreading in the country, health experts told CNN Wednesday.

Two deaths in Northern California's Santa Clara County happened February 6 and 17, the county said Tuesday in a news release.

The previously understood first coronavirus death happened on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington.

The two in California had no known travel histories to China or anywhere else that would have exposed them to the virus, Dr. Sara Cody, the county's chief medical officer, told The New York Times. They are presumed to have caught the virus through community spread, she told the Times.

"That is a very significant finding," Dr. Ashish K. Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told CNN's "New Day" on Wednesday.

"Somebody who died on February 6, they probably contracted that virus early to mid-January. It takes at least two to three weeks from the time you contract the virus and you die from it."

If they did not contract coronavirus through travel abroad, that also is significant, Jha said.

"That means there was community spread happening in California as early as mid-January, if not earlier than that," Jha said.

"We really need to now go back, look at a lot more cases from January -- even December -- and try to sort out when did we first really encounter this virus in the United States," Jha said.

Malaysians luckier than Vietnam people

trusol — Sun, 27 Oct 2019 19:56:15 +0800

Bored and broke, Vietnam migrants risk lives for riches in Europe

HANOI: Young, aspirational and poor Vietnamese are risking their lives to travel to Europe, taking on large debts to join well-worn trafficking routes in the hope of a better future thousands of miles from their rural homes.

The dangers of illegal crossings into Europe were laid bare this week when 31 men and eight women were found dead in a refrigerated truck in Britain.

British police initially said the victims were Chinese, but it is now feared most were from Vietnam.

Many Vietnamese migrants come from just a handful of central provinces, where smugglers prey on disaffected youth lured by the prospect of overseas work.

Bored by village life and fed up with a lack of opportunity, the allure of overseas riches is enough to tempt many to embark on the risky trips.

Many belong to Vietnam’s booming, social-media obsessed population of under 30s, often following relatives or friends to the UK, France and Germany – Facebook posts from abroad and money sent home are often proof enough that the journey is worth it.

Greased by smuggling networks with links in remote Vietnamese towns and throughout eastern Europe, migrants can pay up to US$40,000 for a ticket out of poverty, borrowing from relatives or taking huge loans.

“Smugglers are really saying that the UK is the ‘El Dorado’,” Paris-based migration expert Nadia Sebtaoui told AFP.

They are often promised princely salaries of up to £3,000 pounds a month, around three times the annual income in Vietnam’s poorest provinces.

But the reality is often far different.

Some end up owing thousands of dollars to smugglers and money lenders who front cash for the treacherous journeys. Saddled by huge debts, many face the risk of exploitation along the way.

Full story:

https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2019/10/...s-riches-europe