Mick Gradwell, who has retired from Lancashire Police, said: "You're thrown into investigating international organised crime gangs, snakeheads, triads, international human trafficking. "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. Det Sgt Derek Tinsley said: "[The Li sisters] clearly have no remorse for the way in which they obtained this money and wasted no time in trying to spend it on their release from prison. We are so poor. All were working illegally, picking cockles for hours on end to send money back to their families. [7] Four of the victims died after the truck they used to reach the cockling area became overwhelmed by water. It is as though the Chinese tragedy became a triumph, a vindication of Britain's way of dealing with disaster. 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. Mr Gradwell said while "significant sums" were pocketed by the gangmaster, the cockle pickers earned "a pittance". Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. "I have no idea how we will get out of this situation," she says. The families' huge debts are now owed to relatives, friends and neighbours. The focus of the family's concern is on the youngest member. She comes outside to see us off. Mr Hua was speaking to the BBC under the protection of the government's UK Protected Persons Service. I thank him and the Minister for allowing me to speak briefly on this important matter. A week after she died, in 2004, I visited the family's home. He added: "What's changed since Morecambe Bay? Under this government's war on regulation and "red tape", migrant workers continue to be subjected to exploitation at work. "The Chinese workers were caught up in it," said local fisherman Gary Cheetham. Bolton: Concerns over Chorley New Road 'hump' after repairs, Boy with epilepsy campaigning for access to medicinal cannabis, Man racially abused police officer after being hit over head with vodka bottle, WATCH: Vicar of Bolton delivers final service with 'deep gratitude', National Lottery on the hunt for Prestons community heroes, Preston local elections 2023: Watch debate on Guild Hall, Animate Cinema and council cuts, 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, The 17 most eye-catching looks at the Met Gala, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Clifford Coonan was . Mr Hua said: "It was pitch black and I was desperate. "I can barely pay the fees for his high-school education. She breaks down again. What is inside is almost irrelevant. 894646. It is not enough to live on, let alone pay interest. The uncle, who earns 1,500 yuan per month, has repaid 20,000 yuan, but still owes 150,000. Bolton: Concerns over Chorley New Road 'hump' after repairs, Boy with epilepsy campaigning for access to medicinal cannabis, Man racially abused police officer after being hit over head with vodka bottle, WATCH: Vicar of Bolton delivers final service with 'deep gratitude', National Lottery on the hunt for Prestons community heroes, Preston local elections 2023: Watch debate on Guild Hall, Animate Cinema and council cuts, AI chatbots 'may soon be more intelligent than us', Russia troop deaths hit 20,000 in five months - US, The 17 most eye-catching looks at the Met Gala, Cat-and-mouse chase with China in hotly contested sea, 'My wife and six children joined Kenya starvation cult', Indian officials wife distraught as his killer is freed, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. But it is still not rich enough to keep people from leaving. 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. Returning three years later, I find that he seems to have coped as well as can be imagined in the circumstances. Bowkett, from Welford Road in Shirley, was given a six-month community work order and issued with a four-month curfew which bans him from leaving his home between 20:00 and 06:00 GMT. "Is that near Morecambe?" The monthly interest, 1,000 yuan (66), is three times Lin's rent. During lunch with two of the other bereaved relatives, he says nothing, just slurps his noodles and lets others talk of compensation, human rights and justice. Ren was sentenced to 12 years for manslaughter, 6 years for facilitating illegal immigration (to be served concurrently with the manslaughter sentence), and 2 years for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice (to be served subsequent to the manslaughter sentence). Yet, 10 years on, campaigners say workers are still . Yet, 10 years on, campaigners say workers are still being dangerously exploited in the UK. Inside this station, the 1945 film "Brief Encounter" is played on a loop daily. The headlines from China were full of disbelief. Mon Nov 15 2004 - 00:00. "It was very harrowing. Visitors may notice something strange walking through this quaint German town. Twenty-three of the group . (modern), A woman searching for cockles in Fujiyan. Others are furious and threaten to beat me. A family portrait in 2004 shows the couple smiling with their two children. Siblings Cai Zhixiang and Cai Huiling were orphaned by the Morecambe tragedy. She shows me two photos of the father, Xu Yuhua, and mother, Liu Qinying, taken a week or so before the disaster. A decade ago 23 Chinese cockle pickers drowned when they were trapped by sweeping tides while working in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire. They were working and they died. "Look at this house. 96 minutes. It contains 10 pictures. The only decorations on the walls are some Christian posters and a portrait of her dead husband, Lin Guoguang. 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.". She has not broken any laws, but the death of her husband in Morecambe has made her a fugitive from the family's creditors. Only 21 bodies were recovered following the Morecambe Bay tragedy but police believe 23 people died. "We cannot afford gas so I have to go up to the hill to get wood," she sobs. But now she is furious at those who have left her alone with such a burden. The sculpture can be easy to miss. "Our thoughts really are of sadness for the families. Her house-cleaning job brings in just 600 yuan (40) a month. Running time. Bo Li and Yan Li tried to spend the laundered money three weeks after being released from prison, The Li sisters were arrested after trying to spend 20 notes that had been taken out of circulation. Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation. But the Japanese police were very good. In sharp contrast, the dead man's mother is almost silent. 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. The doctor says it won't be long. Now the creditors never stop bothering us." They were each jailed for two years at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday. Inside Out is broadcast on Monday 3 February at 19:30 GMT on BBC One North West and nationwide for seven days thereafter on the iPlayer. Gentleman will know that on that night 10 years ago, the cockle pickers could just as easily have set off from the Furness end of Morecambe bay, had the tides been . The victims' families - especially their children - are being punished, even though they broke no law themselves. The gang Li called them snakeheads demanded an initial cash payment (the equivalent back then of 10,000) and it was explained to him that he. Market reforms have produced stunning economic growth and many new millionaires, but they have also eroded access to healthcare and education for the poor. But I got caught trying to enter Japan," he recalls. They cook a little extra and bring some for us. His wife joined him after local snakeheads told her that migrant men find mistresses if they are separated from their spouses for too long. The Praying Shell artwork, carved in limestone, sits above the site where 23 Chinese cockle pickers working for. . BBC News. "I'm scared to go there," says the daughter, Cai Huiling. See. Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation. 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. 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. Hundreds of workers lined the Bay's sands in search for cockles, stretching out for miles in dangerous proximity to the treacherous rising tides. Back then, I assumed that the cries would end after a few hours or weeks or months. Gangmaster-controlled work is worth 1.34bn to the UK economy, but only 950 labour providers are licensed under the act. The sculpture was actually imagined before the tragedy occurred in 2004. introduced after the 2004 tragedy has led to a reduction in the number of illegal cockle pickers in the Bay. Their uncle was too shocked by the size of the burden suddenly thrust upon him to grieve at the loss of his sister. As we drive away, I notice the propaganda slogan daubed on the walls of her house in big red characters: "Serve Economic Development. Su Zhenqin has seen her life go backwards since the Morecambe deaths on the night of February 5 2004. By The Newsroom. The events of that night left indelible memories for everyone involved - from the sole Chinese survivor and witness - to the lifeboat crew who found themselves confronted by a "sea of bodies". As Yu Lihong starts to recall her mother-in-law's suicide, warm rain thunders down outside the barred, blue-tinted windows of the apartment at the top of the dark staircase, a walk of nine storeys every time the family has to go out to buy some noodles. Those who sent them to their deaths have not been punished as much as us." Although they don't say anything, I know they worry every day about debt. [12] Lin Mu Yong was sentenced to four years and nine months. Gone_Gary_T Jazz Record Requests Additional comment actions. Work on Morecambe's cockle beds has ceased, and at the time action was promised to prevent such a tragedy happening again. "It was very harrowing. 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. He said: "I think a lot about those who didn't survive, particularly at Chinese New Year, because it happened around that time. In October 2013, it stopped monitoring some industries including forestry or apprenticeships and contract cleaning in the food industry when it should be expanding to include sectors with the worst working conditions. "The situation is getting worse. "From time to time I wake up in the night with a panic attack and remember them. Survived by Father Lin Guohua Debt 100,000 yuan (6,625) Income None. [8] A survivor testified that the leader of the group had made a mistake about the time of the tides. The dangers of Morecambe Bay, where 23 Chinese cocklers lost their lives in 2004, include fast-rising tides and quicksands. 2023 BBC. "It won't be easy," says David Tang, the London lawyer who represents the victims. "It is his debt now. He would rather start work early so that he can start making payments on the debt that he will inherit as soon as he comes of age - a responsibility that few children of his age have to bear. I don't know how we can go on. This crude architectural hierarchy marks Zhou Xiaomei out as a failure. His evidence helped convict Lin Liang Ren of 21 counts of manslaughter, facilitating illegal immigration and perverting the course of justice. He earned a lot in his first year and wrote to say that he was happy in Britain. It is not migrant workers per se but their exploitation that undermines local wages. Her salary of 1,200 yuan (80) a month, from a Singaporean trading company, would normally ensure a modest but secure existence in Fujian. "I was just numb..then, I don't know how, a wave maybe turned me round. I have a serious disease. Ten of us used to live here," says Chen. Offer subject to change without notice. If I had any money, I would pay them, because I know they have to work hard for their money too. It was the eight-year-old who found the body. [12], The 2006 film Ghosts, directed by Nick Broomfield, is a dramatisation of the events leading up to the disaster. THE death of the cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay has added to its reputation for being a deadly area for the unwary. The cockle permit scheme, under which holders have to complete a safety course and learn about intertidal fishing, was introduced in December 2003, just eight weeks before the disaster. Now he had inherited two more and a debt of 150,000 yuan (9,940). Thanks to satellites and modern communications, the bad luck bounced across the globe almost instantly. All the victims were the main breadwinners for their families. Bags of cockles on Morecambe beach as the search mission goes on. The children couldn't bear to live in their old house, where the pictures of their dead parents hung on the walls. The problem is the creditors. ", At last year's trial in Britain, the boy wrote to the judge. When he died it was such a loss. And they were gone just like that. Charitable appeals have made little progress. Some 30 cockle pickers set out at 4 pm. Li Hua was the only worker to be rescued on the night of 5 February, 2004. It is not just economic hardship that drives them, he says, but also tradition and a spirit of adventure. The UK Fujian Association gave 10,000 yuan (about 660) to many of the victims, but this was barely enough to pay for the funerals. Xu appears to be a reasoning, reasonable woman. 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. "Well, actually, slavery is here and now in the UK and the research which I've done with colleagues suggests there may be upwards of 10,000 people at any one time in the UK in conditions which we would class as modern slavery.". Mr Hua agreed to be interviewed and talk about the disaster almost 10 years on. 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. Unlike most of the families in Fujian, Yu knew that her husband was in trouble before she read about it in the newspapers because Guo had a mobile phone with him in Morecambe Bay. Freeman, of Wiggington Road in Tamworth, received a four-month jail term suspended for 12 months. That afternoon, she ate with her grandson during his lunch break. Always listen to your mother.". Often mistaken as a commemorative statue, this sculpture has become a memorial of sorts, honoring the deaths of 23 Chinese cockle pickers who died in Morecambe Bay working for criminal . In 2013, only seven gangmasters were convicted for operating without a licence. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. He cooks noodles for the family, helps his mother with the piecework, and trims his dreams to fit the new reality. The main thing is to be able to look down on your neighbours. "People tend to think that slavery is something to do with faraway countries with poor human rights records," he said. Worries about the future contrast sharply with the upbeat mood in Fujian. Inset: bodies being removed after the disaster. It is a short, scrawled tale of misery: "Wife. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? One of them, Li Hua, was within seconds of becoming a victim. ", Her sick brother-in-law says he feels like an extra burden. Romania: Castles, Ruins, and Medieval Villages, Iceland in Summer: Journey Through a Fabled Land, Monster of the Month w/ Colin Dickey: Mokele-Mbembe, Accidental Discoveries: A Celebration of Historical Mistakes, Antiques and Their Afterlives: Stories from the Collection of Ryan and Regina Cohn, Monster of the Month w/ Colin Dickey: Satanists, Once Upon a Time: Fairy Tale Writing With Anca Szilgyi, Gourds Gone Wild: Growing and Crafting Gourds With Gourdlandia, Playing Ancient Games: History & Mythology With John Bucher, Secrets of Tarot Reading: History & Practice With T. Susan Chang, Why 18th-Century Scots Performed Mock Human Sacrifices Over Cake. When their gangmaster, Lin, was convicted of criminal negligence the judge at Preston crown court said the accused was motivated by greed to shockingly exploit his countrymen with no heed for their safety. On surrounding plots of land, meanwhile, neighbours are erecting huge new villas with the money sent back by family members overseas. Ghosts is a 2006 drama film directed by Nick Broomfield, based on the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster. On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay In Fujian and Zeeland they mourn their next of kin Gang masters with snake tattoos call money loans back in Broked hearted parents watch their children stow away To the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay The tide is the very Devil and The Devil has its day On the lonely cockle banks of Morecambe Bay The men put the cash in a plastic container and buried it in the back garden, where it was later discovered by officers. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Twenty-one bodies were recovered within hours, a woman's skull was washed up six years on and one man has never been found. The Chinese workers were unfamiliar with local geography, language, and custom. The Child-Eating Bunyip Haunts Australias Wetlands. Mr Hua said: "I could not believe I was being rescued and I was alive again.". I tell them I am not worth killing. He would be reunited with his wife as soon as hed found somewhere of his own to live, he was told. The media go wild, she says, about the inflow of migrants, but what they should be talking about is migrants' rights. The 21 men and two women were aged between 18 and 45 and were. The Morecambe Bay cockle pickers tragedy: a survivor's story. Michael Guy, lifeboat operations manager was on duty that night. David Anthony Eden Sr. and David Anthony Eden Jr., a father and son from England, had allegedly arranged to pay a group of Chinese workers 5 per 25kg (9p per lb) of cockles. BRITAIN: The bodies of some of the 23 Chinese cockle-pickers drowned at Morecambe Bay last February finally returned to their home villages last week. ", Among all the people I meet in Fujian, Lin has come the furthest to talk but appears to have the lowest expectations. Read about our approach to external linking. His mother, Shi Aizhu, took that call. The accident happened after more than 30 cocklers - thought to be Chinese who do not speak English - were caught by rising waters in the Hest Bank . The remit of the GLA, Prof Craig said, should be extended to include industries including "construction, hospitality and leisure and social care". Find Cockle Pickers Work At Morecambe Bay stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. 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. "The families who lent us the money are also poor. The boy is lying on the bed, still flicking through a comic book. This abandoned limestone quarry now provides visitors with multiple, breathtaking viewpoints. In 2004 23 cockle-pickers drowned after becoming trapped by rising tides in the Lancashire bay. 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. ", There is little I can say to comfort her. If the creditors saw you they would assume you gave me money and demand I repay them. In the background of both is a British beach. In fact, these migrant workers came to the UK to escape the poverty created by socialism in China and were working under a regime of stateregulated access to the cockle beds. My children are suffering. But 5,000 miles away in Fujian province . All rights reserved. Typically in such situations, they have each lent 5,000 to 10,000 yuan (330-660) to a family to pay the cash that the snakeheads demand as soon as the migrant has been smuggled to his or her destination. . 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. Her husband's death meant instant ruin. Mr Gradwell claimed other similar disasters could still occur because people are willing to exploit the poorest in society for their own ends. The smuggled Fujianese headed directly to the sources of wealth, including Europe. ", Inside Out talks to Li Hua, the only cockle picker to be rescued alive from the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy 10 years ago. "I stayed in my husband's home for a while. The interview over, I ask if I can take some pictures of the mother, grandmother and son. Apart from the senior hovercraft commander, many of the crew on that particular night on the hovercraft hadn't seen bodies in the water before.". And, of course, the debt from the dead woman's passage to Britain still hangs over them. "Each family lends about 5,000 yuan (330). Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park.It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of 120 sq mi (310 km 2).In 1974, the second largest gas field in the UK was discovered 25 mi (40 km) west of Blackpool, with original reserves of over 7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) (200 . Padgett said this about the sculpture, Its symbolism is intended to parallel humanitys openness to a larger dimension and the way cockle shells open as the tide comes in.. "Perhaps," she says with a shrug. Lawyers in London are pressing a claim for money from Britain's criminal compensation fund, but if a payment comes at all it could take years. But if something goes wrong, there is no bankruptcy law and scarcely any safety net - a poverty alleviation allowance of 3 per month per child is all that local government pays in cases of great hardship. The 23 deaths at Morecambe Bay highlighted the serious risks being taken by low-paid workers and the cavalier attitude of those supposedly responsible for them, but in Parliament efforts were already under way to tackle gangmasters. They realise we have problems," says Chen. The death of 19 cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay has added to its reputation for being a deadly area for the unwary. You must go around the back of Red Bank Farm and it is a sharp left up on the on the banking, looking over the Bay. Two of the victims were women; the rest were mostly young men in their 20s and 30s, with only two being over 40 and only one, a male, under 20. The British government has paid to send the bodies home, but it is reluctant to do more for fear of encouraging other illegal immigrants. But, unlike his father, he refused to accept that poverty was his lot in life. "There is a constant threat and risk of people being abused like this and dying because they're being forced to work in dangerous conditions," he added. They have done nothing wrong. The last time a foreigner came to see me, they came knocking immediately after and caused trouble. Chief executive Paul Broadbent said it was making progress to ensure "exploitation in all its forms was eradicated and people can work for a good honest wage and get paid that wage". Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. [15], In 2009, Ed Pien's work Memento, commissioned by the Chinese Arts Centre, was developed in response to the plight of illegal immigrants, especially those who died at Morecambe Bay. Li Hua knew very little about England before leaving his home village in China, beyond what hed read about and seen on television and yet he already made of it in his imagination something magnificent and welcoming. In the under-regulated world of the booming cockling trade, a local gang culture had been developing since the 1990s, evolving into a turf war. 2023 BBC. Zhao Xiao Qing was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months for facilitation of illegal immigration and perverting the course of justice. My husband is dead. Some creditors keep adding interest, which has pushed the debt to 300,000 yuan (20,000). Most are of her wedding. The GLA has had some success in dismantling crime rings in Cambridgeshire, Derby and Norfolk, yet the scale of the problem seems beyond its reach. "They lent us money because they sympathised with our poverty. More than 1,000 days after the accident, they haven't paid back a single yuan of the original 80,000-yuan (5,300) loan. All she does all day is collect rubbish for recycling so we can get a little extra money," explains Chen. [3][4] The workers had been trafficked via containers into Liverpool, and were hired out through local criminal agents of international Chinese Triads. It probably makes little difference. Often mistaken as a commemorative statue, this sculpture has become a memorial of sorts, honoring the deaths of 23 Chinese cockle pickers who died in Morecambe Bay working for criminal organizations. "I was on my own And then a helicopter came," he said. The garden was designed and built by young volunteers from the Princes Trust and the fire service in Morecambe. It was unbearable," recalls Lin in a matter-of-fact voice as her own mother sobs at her side. Read about our approach to external linking. The 21 cockle pickers who were killed in Morecambe Bay in February died from drowning, an inquest has heard. 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. File photo: Lancashire Police. My only hope is that all of the family stay safe and healthy. Registered in England No. It is really unfair. She is wearing a white dress and her husband Wu Hongkang is in a western suit. 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. It wasn't the creditors this time. So why are the authorities unable to prevent this kind of situation arising? 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. 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. Migrants such as Dong take the fast route into the global workforce, while tens of millions of peasants take the slow road, by labouring in Chinese factories making products for western consumers. The uncle, Chen Minyi, said he could not afford to keep them both, so the son stays with another aunt. He believes the small gangmasters not following the rules may get caught, but the large ones are still out there. Mick Gradwell, who has retired from Lancashire Police, said: "You're thrown into investigating international organised crime gangs, snakeheads, triads, international human trafficking. Abstract. Video, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, Met Gala 2023: Stars celebrate Karl Lagerfeld, The burden of being cricket legend Tendulkar's son, Yellen warns US could run out of cash in a month, HSBC says 1 bank buyout boosted profit by $1.5bn, King Charles to wear golden robes for Coronation, Shooting suspect was deported four times - US media. Activists are concerned about the impact of funding cuts on working conditions. Almost a decade after the disaster, Mr Hua said he still has panic attacks. But I have a few hundred thousand yuan worth of debts. "I was just numb..then, I don't know how, a wave maybe turned me round.

All My Ways Are Known To You Sheet Music, Crest Whitening Emulsions Commercial Actors, Barry Riddick Tah Tah'' Moore, Articles M