Why would Chinese risk their lives to enter U.K. in back of lorry?

The news that 39 bodies of Chinese citizens were found in a lorry container in Essex, London, sent global shock waves.

As investigations continue, one question lingers in the mind of many: ”Why would citizens of Chinese travel to the UK in such means?”

According to CNN, China is the second largest economy in the world with an economic transformation that has elevated many of its citizens from poverty status.

Despite this, it ranks fourth among countries with the most citizens living abroad.

CNN cited a report from the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) that found that 10 million of the 258 million immigrant population are Chinese.

Natalia Banulescu-Bodgan from MPI told CNN that the high population is attributed to inequality in the Asian country.

”The opportunities within a country as large as China are not equally distributed,” she said.

Reports indicate that a majority still live in squalor despite the high level of economic growth in the last few years.

The Chinese also prefer to study abroad, especially in Europe, a statement backed by statistics.

In 2019 alone, U.K. gave 100,000 of study visas, about 13%, to Chinese.

They are also searching for job opportunities as an estimated 20% of them are in Africa; others are in America and Europe also working in different sectors.

The MPI has also attributed the migration from China to political repression and the policy that restricts each couple to having only one child.