Protesters held up enlarged ID cards showing victims' faces

Behind a banner saying 58 Dead - Never Again, a cluster of men, women and children demonstrated in silence.

They were protesting at what they perceived to be the British and Dutch governments' failure to protect the young people's lives.

Later families of the dead joined campaigners to remember the 58 in the heart of Chinatown in London.

Beside the Chinese Arch in Soho's St Anne's Church, Xiag Yin He, whose brother died in the lorry, pleaded with immigrants not to take the same route.

He made a desperate appeal calling for an end to human trafficking and thanked British campaigners for their calls for compensation.

Governments blamed

Only two immigrants survived when the 60-member group tried to enter Britain on 18 June 2000.

They were hidden behind boxes of tomatoes in a sealed compartment in a lorry from Holland.

The immigration system into the UK is so difficult that people are still forced to take perilous routes

Jabez Lam CCRAG

Jabez Lam, the chairman of the Chinese Civil Rights Action Group (CCRAG), which organised the events, said: "This tragedy could have been avoided.

"The immigration system into the UK is so difficult that people are still forced to take perilous routes.

"The failure of both British and Dutch authorities to protect the victims' basic safety is a significant breach of the right to life."

Mr Lam said evidence from two trials in Britain and Holland showed authorities were aware of the "snakehead" gang which organised the illegal trip, and may have even had the lorry under surveillance, but did nothing to stop the deaths.

The 58 were hidden behind boxes of tomatoes

Protesters also claim the deaths had been "compounded" by the treatment of the victims' relatives.

"The families in the UK found that the police and immigration service treated them with unjustifiable suspicion and as potential accomplices," said Mr Lam.

He said: "The relatives of the deceased in China were denied entry to the UK and the most basic opportunity to identify their loved ones and make dignified burial arrangements.

"The lessons of this tragedy have been ignored. We urge the British and Dutch Governments to look into this and take measures to prevent future deaths of migrants."

Jailed

Dutch lorry driver Perry Wacker, 33, was jailed in April for 14 years for manslaughter after jurors at Maidstone Crown Court heard he closed off his cargo's only air source on one of the hottest days of last summer.

Ying Guo, 30, an interpreter from east London, was jailed for six years for her part in the conspiracy.

The leader of the international ring responsible for the deaths was given a nine-year sentence by a Dutch court in May.

Gursel Ozcan, a Turk, was cleared of manslaughter but found guilty of negligence. Six other men from his organisation were also jailed.