But she had to come back because her children's schoolwork was suffering in her absence. The Morecambe Bay victims were aged between 18 and 45, Jurors in the manslaughter trial were taken out on the sands in a hovercraft. One grandmother is still crying as I prepare to leave. How can the Chinese and the UK governments say that it is not their responsibility? Isaac Julien: 'What Freedom Is to Me' at Tate Britain review Memories of the, UKmigrants no different to Brits abroad, says home office minister, Don't claim we didn't act on gangmasters after Morecambe Bay, Cameron to push for cap on European migrants in UK negotiations with EU, Seasonal migrant workers scheme closes to help British into work, Newfigures reveal dramatic increase in hate crimes against Polish people, UKmust end dependency on low-wage foreign labour, says Ed Miliband, Home Office 'did not predict huge surge in immigration visas for entrepreneurs', EdMiliband promises to close loophole allowing exploitation of foreign workers, Romanians and Bulgarians in the UK react to immigration furore. But they are not stupid. But she feels a constant pressure. On 5 February, Chinese cockle pickers were at work in the dark but facing the incoming tide. Jonathan Watts hears the stories of eight victims' families plunged into debt and despair, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. "But we did not make any dent into these wider criminal gangs who traffic people around the world," he said. The death of her husband Dong Xinwu has left them with a debt of 240,000 yuan and no breadwinner to pay it back. "It is hard work, but I barely earn enough to put food in our mouths," she says. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. United Kingdom. Twenty-one bodies were recovered within hours, a woman's skull was washed up six years on and one man has never been found. Jeremy Clarkson slammed for mocking deaths of 23 Chinese cockle-pickers And they were gone just like that. "Three years ago, we were poor but our lives were tranquil. Effective regulations would benefit both migrant and local workers. But because the victims were all illegal migrants, their dependants have received no compensation, meagre charity, and endured such appalling harassment from debt collectors that several have been driven from their homes and at least one woman has killed herself. "It still makes me sad whenever I come here. The organisation was set up to protect vulnerable workers in the shell fish, agriculture, food and food packaging labour markets but MPs and academics are campaigning for it to be given more powers. Morecambe tide faster than a man can run | The Scotsman Aerial shots of large-scale calligraphy counterpoint to the thermal imaging footage from the rescue services to Morecambe Bay. "I worry about their future," says the uncle. The Morecambe Bay cockle pickers tragedy: a survivor's story. The families I meet in Fujian are all after pity - it is their last hope - but they are not equally able to press their case for sympathy, charity and compensation. Country. After he turns 18 next year, we won't be able to keep him in education." All four were convicted of money laundering at Birmingham Crown Court on September 20. In January 2005, just short of a year after her son's death, Shi decided to join him. His evidence helped convict Lin Liang Ren of 21 counts of manslaughter, facilitating illegal immigration and perverting the course of justice. "I was just numb..then, I don't know how, a wave maybe turned me round. If the creditors saw you they would assume you gave me money and demand I repay them. Today marks 15 years since 23 people died in the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. [13][14], A 2006 documentary Death in the Bay: The Cocklepickers' Story, was commissioned by Channel 4 as part of The Other Side from local filmmaker Loren Slater, who was one of the first people on the scene. And Lena Chen - a Chinese woman living in Britain - sends a small amount of money before each spring festival. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Video, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, Met Gala 2023: Stars celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media, Yellen warns US could run out of cash in a month, The 17 most eye-catching looks at the Met Gala, King Charles to wear golden robes for Coronation, HSBC says 1 bank buyout boosted profit by $1.5bn, More than 100 police hurt in French May Day protests. "The only way I can bear life now is to imagine that he is still alive.". Research led by Durham University last year found evidence that the numbers of people trafficked for labour exploitation would soon exceed those brought to the country for sexual exploitation. Although this was a made-in-China and consummated-in-Britain tragedy, no one wants to take responsibility for the consequences. No purchase necessary. We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. I really don't know what we can do.". During the last school holiday, he went to work in a factory paying 60p a day so he could start to repay the debts of the dead. Unable to read the warning signs on the beach, the victims were trapped while picking cockles by fast-moving tides on the notoriously treacherous sands. The horrors imprinted on my mind, says Li Hua. The last time a foreigner came to see me, they came knocking immediately after and caused trouble. The 2004 Morecambe Bay disaster saw a group of Chinese cockle pickers drowned by rising tides as they worked gathering shellfish for criminal gangmasters. Languages. Morecambe Bay cockle-picker tragedy: Sisters jailed again In the background of both is a British beach. Read about our approach to external linking. Visitors may notice something strange walking through this quaint German town. "Our thoughts really are of sadness for the families. Ten years ago this week, 23 men and women lost their lives searching for cockles in Morecambe Bay. The Morecambe Bay cockle pickers: Market failure or - ResearchGate In 2006, the average rural income in the province was 4,450 yuan (270 pounds) a year, one-third higher than the Chinese norm - but little more than 1% of most British salaries. It was their gangmaster, however, and a wider web of criminals, that truly profited while paying scant regard to the cockle pickers' safety on the sands. My only hope is that all of the family stay safe and healthy. Now living under witness protection, he told BBC Inside Out of his "despair" before help arrived. "I thought I might just as well wait to die. Nick Broomfield, who made the 2006 film Ghosts about the tragedy, set up the Morecambe Victims Fund with the Guardian journalist Hsiao-Hung Pai last August aimed at raising 500,000 for the victims' families. 2023 BBC. Eighteen cockle pickers have died after becoming trapped by rising tides in Lancashire's Morecambe Bay. "Tens of thousands of illegal Chinese workers were living in the country," he said. I had a warm and happy family even though we weren't rich. Back then, I assumed that the cries would end after a few hours or weeks or months. She breaks down again. I can't sleep with worry." THE death of the cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay has added to its reputation for being a deadly area for the unwary. It is not just economic hardship that drives them, he says, but also tradition and a spirit of adventure. On the evening of 5 February 2004, at least 21 Chinese illegal immigrants were drowned by an incoming tide at Morecambe Bay in North West England, while harvesting cockles off the Lancashire coast. When he died it was such a loss. I ask Chen how the family will manage. ", There is little I can say to comfort her. Mr Hua was speaking to the BBC under the protection of the government's UK Protected Persons Service. A family portrait in 2004 shows the couple smiling with their two children. Published 7th Feb 2004, 00:00 BST. Last time I was back there, word quickly got round and before I knew it there were 10 of them pressing me to repay our debts. The media go wild, she says, about the inflow of migrants, but what they should be talking about is migrants' rights. On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Sole survivor cockle picker slave of Morecambe disaster - The Sun On 5 February, Chinese cockle pickers were at work in the dark but facing the incoming tide. Now I have lost my parents. "The Chinese workers were caught up in it," said local fisherman Gary Cheetham. It seems workers have little confidence in reporting abuse to the GLA: "They don't seem to do much with the intelligence," a source told me. Zhao Xiao Qing was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months for facilitation of illegal immigration and perverting the course of justice. But I have a few hundred thousand yuan worth of debts. Alan Sledmore, who guides people across the bay, said "The area is very . Mr Hua said: "I could not believe I was being rescued and I was alive again.". If I had any money, I would pay them, because I know they have to work hard for their money too. It is less than she would earn at a factory, but at least she can stay at home and keep an eye on her son and his grandparents. But 5,000 miles away in Fujian province, on the south-eastern coast of China, lives are still being sucked into the sands. ", There has been a little charity for her and several other families, from the Fuqing Overseas Workers organisation. She is the stalwart of her family: a doughty, intelligent woman with the only skilled, white-collar job among all the people that we have been meeting. Morecambe Bay cockle-picker tragedy: Sisters jailed again She now lives at her uncle and aunt's home in the hills. It is a short, scrawled tale of misery: "Wife. The only contribution we made to the families is that because we did recover the people we gave them some closure - rather than people being lost at sea.". So why are the authorities unable to prevent this kind of situation arising? I heard it a lot that month, during two visits to the province to interview some of the families of the cockle pickers who had just died at Morecambe. ", At the bottom, he tags on a brief message to their two sons. 152 Morecambe Cockle Pickers Premium High Res Photos - Getty Images Clifford Coonan was . There is usually less risk than for a loan for college or business.". He does everything he is told without complaint or enthusiasm. Xu Liying knows just how hard life can be without any support from society, the state or charity. The report also called for the scope of the GLA to be widened. The Chinese workers were unfamiliar with local geography, language, and custom. We must go on. He said the team on the hovercraft covering Arnside in Cumbria began their "normal search patterns" when they made the grim discovery of the bodies. One solitary figure stands at the edge of the sea, the sole survivor . Lin Liang Ren was jailed for 14 years in 2006 after being found guilty of manslaughter and helping the cockle pickers break immigration laws. "But we did not make any dent into these wider criminal gangs who traffic people around the world," he said. It probably makes little difference. Almost a year on, it has collected only 20,000, including 5,000 that ITV donated after its recent Bafta. Both Freeman and Bowkett were ordered by the judge to each pay 10,000 costs. Mr Hua agreed to be interviewed and talk about the disaster almost 10 years on. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Running time. I wish you and my son health and safety. The only decorations on the walls are some Christian posters and a portrait of her dead husband, Lin Guoguang. That last conversation with her son crushed much of her will to live; the hounding by the creditors finished her off. The sculpture was actually imagined before the tragedy occurred in 2004. "We are really poor. "It was very harrowing. "It is not fair for the children. "I work on a construction site from time to time, mixing concrete," she says, her dialect so heavy that even the interpreter has difficulty understanding; her words need to be translated into standard Mandarin before they can be retranslated into English for me. Mick Gradwell, who has retired from Lancashire Police, said: "You're thrown into investigating international organised crime gangs, snakeheads, triads, international human trafficking. I have a serious disease. Everyone was panicking, they got out of the vehicle and tried to swim. Survived by Father Lin Guohua Debt 100,000 yuan (6,625) Income None. ", Dependants Wife Chen Jinyun and sons Lin Luan, 19, and Lin Huan, 18 Debt More than 100,000 yuan (6,625) Monthly income 600 yuan (40), Chen Jinyun is on the run. [8] A survivor testified that the leader of the group had made a mistake about the time of the tides. When 23 Chinese cockle pickers died at Morecambe Bay in 2004, the gangmaster was caught and convicted, bodies were repatriated, the disaster tidied away. In the early negotiations with Mr Chang, the local gang boss, Li was told the journey would take only a few weeks and that, at the end of it, he would be guaranteed work in a factory or restaurant. Now we are on our own. "He told us the water was up to his neck and asked us to pray for him," says his wife. Soon after he turned 19, he went to England. The deaths 10 years ago of 23 Chinese cockle pickers who were searching for a "better life" has had a lasting effect on all those associated with the disaster in Morecambe Bay. But he lost his life, and now Zhou has not only to look after their son and daughter, but also a sick brother-in-law. Others are furious and threaten to beat me. These workers had no knowledge of the sea and hadn't been given any safety equipment or guidance by their gangmaster. Labour MP Jim Sheridan raised the matter with a private member's bill and legislation soon followed which saw the creation of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) in 2006. BBC NEWS | England | Lancashire | Deadly sands of Morecambe Bay Two sisters who laundered money linked to a human trafficking operation which caused the deaths of 23 cockle pickers have been jailed for a second time. "If someone goes abroad, everybody in the neighbourhood lends them money because they believe they will be repaid in three or four years," Chen says. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. Gangmaster-controlled work is worth 1.34bn to the UK economy, but only 950 labour providers are licensed under the act. The eldest son has done his best to honour that final wish, but it is becoming more difficult. "From time to time I wake up in the night with a panic attack and remember them. Are UK Asian gangs secretly exploiting cockle pickers? She supports a daughter with learning disabilities, an unemployed husband, an elderly father, a sister who became mentally ill after being raped, and, since February 5 2004, a nephew. The family has had to move. There are some outlets just 10 minutes from here and I hear they pay OK, about three or four yuan [20-25p] an hour. "From time to time I wake up in the night with a panic attack and remember them. On the evening of February 5, 2004, 23 men and women lost their lives after . I was just lucky.". Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation. The pair, who operated from houses in the West Midlands, had hidden 22,000 they had made and tried to spend it when they got out of prison. Inside Out talks to Li Hua, the only cockle picker to be rescued alive from the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy 10 years ago, "But the water was flooding so quickly some were dragged right away under the water.". The son, Lin Zhifan, was also poorly educated - quitting school before he was 16 so that he could work in a factory. "There is no precedent All we can do is wait.". But it is near the creditors so they used to come knocking all the time. "My plan is to work in Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald's. I thought I might just as well wait to die. ", Among all the people I meet in Fujian, Lin has come the furthest to talk but appears to have the lowest expectations. There is no anger or grief in his voice. Her house-cleaning job brings in just 600 yuan (40) a month. During the subsequent investigation and trial, it emerged that the labourers were inexperienced, spoke little or no English and were unfamiliar with the area. "Shouldn't the boy go and play next door?" Is climate change killing Australian wine? "It was very harrowing. Morecambe Bay's cockling industry was catapulted into the national spotlight 15 years ago under disastrous circumstances. He believes the small gangmasters not following the rules may get caught, but the large ones are still out there. AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, Palestinian hunger striker dies in Israel prison, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Congleton MP Ann Winterton stunned an audience at a dinner when . The dangers of Morecambe Bay, where 23 Chinese cocklers lost their lives in 2004, include fast-rising tides and quicksands. "I don't know how I will be able to pay for him if he succeeds. If anyone gets sick, it will be a total disaster for all of us. Gangmaster Lin Liang Ren would drive the workers to Morecambe from Liverpool and visit casinos while the men and women toiled through the night. Li was lifted by violent waves as he struggled to swim against the tide. "My family are all healthy and we are happy. The former detective superintendent, who is now retired, said: "The main reason 23 people died in Morecambe Bay on this particular night was because of poverty in the Fujian province of China. Although they don't say anything, I know they worry every day about debt. The deaths 10 years ago of 23 Chinese cockle pickers who were searching for a "better life" has had a lasting effect on all those associated with the Morecambe Bay disaster. A week after she died, in 2004, I visited the family's home. But let something go wrong - an accident, illness or injustice - and the clock whirs back to the 19th century and a worse-than-Dickensian nightmare of instant ruin, hopeless poverty and chilling social indifference. Morecambe Bay cockling disaster survivor Li Hua said he thought he "might just as well wait to die" before the emergency helicopter's thermal imaging camera spotted he was alive in the sea, The victims, aged between 18 and 45, were working to send money back to their families, Jurors in the manslaughter trial were taken out on the sands in a hovercraft, Mick Gradwell, who led the police investigation, claimed other similar disasters could occur. "Maybe when the children are older, they can work and pay off our debts. The events of that . Su Zhenqin has seen her life go backwards since the Morecambe deaths on the night of February 5 2004. But I got caught trying to enter Japan," he recalls. In fact, these . Morecambe Bay cockling disaster 15 years on: Lost lives remain "great A sculpture of a praying man overlooking Morecambe Bay has been unveiled. "My husband was good to me. "Ha ha, smile!" Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. The only contribution we made to the families is that because we did recover the people we gave them some closure - rather than people being lost at sea.". VideoOn board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, I didnt think make-up was made for black girls, Why there is serious money in kitchen fumes. Cockle-pickers who used bare hands to scour Britain's shores in 1950s At a rough wooden table inside, she shows me the family photo album. Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. The court heard three weeks after the sisters were released from prison in 2011, they were arrested in Bath after trying to pass off 20 notes that had been withdrawn from circulation. He has seen what they are like when they are here.". He said: "If there's any fitting memorial to the poor people that died it would be that we can legislate or do our best to make sure no one dies in a similar situation. "There's the same number of unlicensed gangmasters as there is licensed, in the food-processing industry, for instance. It was first described to me in February 2004 as one of China's most beautiful and deeply distressing forms of art. He said: "I think a lot about those who didn't survive, particularly at Chinese New Year, because it happened around that time. In any case, she says, her son no longer wants to go to school. This month he takes university entrance exams, but his mother says she cannot afford the application fee, let alone the costs of tuition if he gets a place.
Iron Meteorite Metaphysical Properties,
Hoi4 France Indivisible Or Encourage Immigration,
100 Fastest Growing Counties In America,
Articles M
morecambe bay cockle pickers