Sometimes, relatives help out so that her children do not starve. Most are of her wedding. Morecambe Bay's cockling industry was catapulted into the national spotlight 15 years ago under disastrous circumstances. I can't afford to go to hospital for the surgery I need so I just sit at home waiting to die. The garden was designed and built by young volunteers from the Princes Trust and the fire service in Morecambe. We are so poor. 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". Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. "Ha ha, smile!" "One women supports two children and me. On Morecambe Bay - Christy Moore He does everything he is told without complaint or enthusiasm. 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. Cockle picking can be a deadly business however - in February 2004 a group of Chinese immigrants drowned after they were cut off by an incoming tide in Morecambe Bay. The focus of the family's concern is on the youngest member. But it is still not rich enough to keep people from leaving. . 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. Jeremy Clarkson slammed for mocking deaths of 23 Chinese cockle-pickers Everything he says lives up to the archetype of the downtrodden peasant. 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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. A NORTH West Tory MP remained defiant today over an offensive joke about the Chinese cockle pickers who drowned in Morecambe Bay. "It is not fair for the children. Accidental Drownings of Migrant Labourers in Morecambe Bay, England They were cut off by the incoming tide in the bay around 9:30 p.m. In March 2006, Ren was jailed for 14 years at Preston Crown Court. 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. 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. Everyone was panicking, they got out of the vehicle and tried to swim. Li Hua was trafficked by 'snakeheads' from China via Moscow to the UK. Tracy Brown, a Morecambe town councillor, told the Daily Telegraph that the remarks were "beneath . His wife joined him after local snakeheads told her that migrant men find mistresses if they are separated from their spouses for too long. Chen says she has sold her wedding jewellery and persuaded the creditors to stop charging 10% interest. 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. The Praying Shell - Bolton-le-Sands, England - Atlas Obscura When 23 Chinese cockle pickers died at Morecambe Bay in 2004, the gangmaster was caught and convicted, bodies were repatriated, the disaster tidied away. "The Chinese workers were caught up in it," said local fisherman Gary Cheetham. 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 But they need education to lift them to a level where one of them can repay the debt, which will be passed on to the sons - as is customary in this part of the world. In fact, these . "I have no idea how we will get out of this situation," she says. Some 30 cockle pickers set out at 4 pm. His first words are an apology. Their mother, Chen Aiqin, went to work in Britain because she thought it was her family's only chance to escape poverty. Some creditors keep adding interest, which has pushed the debt to 300,000 yuan (20,000). Alan Sledmore, who guides people across the bay, said "The area is very . There are some outlets just 10 minutes from here and I hear they pay OK, about three or four yuan [20-25p] an hour. comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment . He may have been one of those who tried to call the emergency services; their panicked, mixed-up English pleas for help were replayed at the trial. 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. 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.". 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. I really don't know what we can do.". Ten years ago this week, 23 men and women lost their lives searching for cockles in Morecambe Bay. It is as if they have fallen into a crevasse between justice and charity, from which there is no way out. introduced after the 2004 tragedy has led to a reduction in the number of illegal cockle pickers in the Bay. She is wearing a white dress and her husband Wu Hongkang is in a western suit. The title is a reference to the Cantonese slang term Gweilo (), meaning "ghost man", used for white people . Bags of cockles on Morecambe beach as the search mission goes on. Just after the disaster, our relatives helped us a little bit, but they could not carry on supporting us indefinitely. Local fisherman Harold Benson is still traumatised by the events of 5 February 2004. The report also called for the scope of the GLA to be widened. The 2004 Morecambe Bay disaster saw a group of Chinese cockle pickers drowned by rising tides as they worked gathering shellfish for criminal gangmasters. [2] The Chinese workers were unfamiliar with local geography, language, and custom. In Britain, the Morecambe Bay disaster is history. It was the eight-year-old who found the body. 2023 Atlas Obscura. The combination of rising flood waters and ferocious incoming tide meant the trapped cockle-pickers "didn't stand a chance", a sands expert said. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? The creditors haven't started to harass him yet because they know he is just a kid, but they will when he grows up. 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. ", She shows me a letter she received from her husband before he died. 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 detective who led the investigation into the tragedy said the deaths had "lived with him" ever since. A decade ago 23 Chinese cockle pickers drowned when they were trapped by sweeping tides while working in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire. They have to work hard for their money too." The last time a foreigner came to see me, they came knocking immediately after and caused trouble. But, unlike his father, he refused to accept that poverty was his lot in life. Xu appears to be a reasoning, reasonable woman. He said: "The water covered the wheel and the vehicle couldn't move. In almost every home, it would start up almost as soon as I - or any other visitor - entered the house, and continue until we left. "Our thoughts really are of sadness for the families. "Wait a moment," I interrupt. Now he had inherited two more and a debt of 150,000 yuan (9,940). Su owes more than other families because she had to pay the snakeheads twice: once to get her husband to Germany and then, when he found no work there, to get him to Britain. 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.". Published 7th Feb 2004, 00:00 BST. There is a common misconception that donations to the cockle-pickers' families will go into the pockets of the "snakehead" gangsters who smuggled the victims into Britain. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. It wasn't the creditors this time. 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 . Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. Mon Nov 15 2004 - 00:00. The family has had to move. "We all came for the same reason. When he returns home, he locks himself in his room. ", There is little I can say to comfort her. 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. Li was lifted by violent waves as he struggled to swim against the tide. If I had any money, I would pay them, because I know they have to work hard for their money too. The cockles to be collected are best found at low tide on sand flats at Warton Sands, near Hest Bank. Five of them depend on Yu's father's factory salary of 750 yuan. Only 21 bodies were recovered following the Morecambe Bay tragedy but police believe 23 people died. Morecambe Bay cockling disaster 15 years on: Lost lives remain "great Read about our approach to external linking. Read about our approach to external linking. More than three years after 23 Chinese cockle pickers perished on the Lancashire sands, most people in the United Kingdom believe justice has been done. That last conversation with her son crushed much of her will to live; the hounding by the creditors finished her off. But they are not stupid. But the family is subsisting rather than living. "It still makes me sad whenever I come here. Was a May Day Attack by Pilgrims a Practice Run for a Massacre? Instead of immigration vans, raids and endless spot checks, we need resources to be redirected into penalising exploitative employers and protecting workers. ", Her sick brother-in-law says he feels like an extra burden. Chen says that is impossible now. Bo and Yan Li were jailed in 2009 for a scam linked to the deaths of the cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay in 2004. She refuses. The other quietly grasps my hand and implores me to help. "Sometimes I think if he hadn't died I would live a better life.". At least 21 Chinese cockle pickers drowned in treacherous weather conditions in Hest Bank, Lancashire, on the night of 5 February 2004. One solitary figure stands at the edge of the sea, the sole survivor . The media go wild, she says, about the inflow of migrants, but what they should be talking about is migrants' rights. After he turns 18 next year, we won't be able to keep him in education." Rescue teams continue their search over Morecambe bay, where many cockle pickers are feared dead after they were trapped by the rising tide in. "It was pitch black and I was desperate," he said. [2] Twenty-one bodies, of men and women between the ages of 18 and 45, were recovered from the bay after the incident. He has seen what they are like when they are here.". I don't know how we can go on. Twenty-one bodies were recovered within hours, a woman's skull was washed up six years on and one man has never been found. Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation. Almost a year on, it has collected only 20,000, including 5,000 that ITV donated after its recent Bafta. The only decorations on the walls are some Christian posters and a portrait of her dead husband, Lin Guoguang. The remit of the GLA, Prof Craig said, should be extended to include industries including "construction, hospitality and leisure and social care". At a confiscation hearing in 2011, Bo, 46, and Yan, 43, were ordered to pay back about 1m which they had made. File photo: Lancashire Police. My only hope is that all of the family stay safe and healthy. 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, 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. Her orphaned nephew Xu Bin has inherited debts of more than 200,000 yuan (13,250). 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. Among those who perished were an 18-year-old man and a husband and wife,. The main thing is to be able to look down on your neighbours. Slavery 'worse' 10 years after Morecambe Bay tragedy - BBC News But she is dragged into poverty by debt and dependants. As we drive away, I notice the propaganda slogan daubed on the walls of her house in big red characters: "Serve Economic Development. Mr Hua was speaking to the BBC under the protection of the government's UK Protected Persons Service. 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.". Lin Liang Ren was jailed for 14 years in 2006 after being found guilty of manslaughter and helping the cockle pickers break immigration laws. it says. The siblings have been separated. When 23 Chinese cockle pickers died at Morecambe Bay in 2004, the gangmaster was caught and convicted, bodies were repatriated, the disaster tidied away. Outside, there are building materials for some home improvements that have been shelved indefinitely. It is not just economic hardship that drives them, he says, but also tradition and a spirit of adventure. In 2006, Liverpool gangster Lin Liang Ren was convicted of the manslaughter of the 23 . "Each family lends about 5,000 yuan (330). 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. In October 2011, 17 cockle pickers of eastern European origin were saved at the River Ribble estuary in Lancashire, 30 miles from the scene of the disaster. Hundreds of workers lined the Bay's sands in search for cockles, stretching out for miles in dangerous proximity to the treacherous rising tides. A month or two after arriving, he was dead - the youngest of the Morecambe victims. Michael Guy, lifeboat operations manager was on duty that night. In this boring Europe, I miss you and mother and our relatives very much. 96 minutes. Barbara Storey, chair of SOS Polonia, a Polish community organisation in Southampton, said: "Abuse in gang labour is still common in the industries where migrants find work." This abandoned limestone quarry now provides visitors with multiple, breathtaking viewpoints. The deaths exposed an underground. Tide kills 18 cockle pickers. (modern), The dangers of Morecambe Bay, where 23 Chinese cocklers lost their lives in 2004, include fast-rising tides and quicksands. ", Among all the people I meet in Fujian, Lin has come the furthest to talk but appears to have the lowest expectations. Birds have nested in the roof. ", There has been a little charity for her and several other families, from the Fuqing Overseas Workers organisation. But I got caught trying to enter Japan," he recalls. He earned a lot in his first year and wrote to say that he was happy in Britain. 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. Isaac Julien: 'What Freedom Is to Me' at Tate Britain review Europe is a devilish prison. The eldest son has done his best to honour that final wish, but it is becoming more difficult. Morecambe Bay. But the Japanese police were very good. The children couldn't bear to live in their old house, where the pictures of their dead parents hung on the walls. A family portrait in 2004 shows the couple smiling with their two children. 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. Jeremy Clarkson Jokes About Dead Chinese Cockle-Pickers To put her two children through school, she has borrowed more money, taking her debt to more than 300,000 yuan (19,900) . [7] Ren, his girlfriend Zhao Xiao Qing and his cousin Lin Mu Yong were also convicted of breaking immigration laws. [8] A survivor testified that the leader of the group had made a mistake about the time of the tides. Always listen to your mother.". "When my son came back home, he thought she was still asleep." "Perhaps," she says with a shrug. Dependants Son Cai Zhixiang, 16, daughter Cai Huiling, 13 Debt 150,000 yuan (9,940) Monthly income 2,000 yuan (132). It was first described to me in February 2004 as one of China's most beautiful and deeply distressing forms of art. 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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. But he gets up without grumbling and poses patiently next to his mother. Sinking water, sinking water.". He cooks noodles for the family, helps his mother with the piecework, and trims his dreams to fit the new reality. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. All I can think of is the Chinese cockle-pickers, poor sods. Morecambe Bay Disaster (Aftermath) - Hansard - UK Parliament His evidence helped convict Lin Liang Ren of 21 counts of manslaughter, facilitating illegal immigration and perverting the course of justice. Twenty years ago, the two-storey, red-brick building was probably the envy of the neighbourhood. 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. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. These early 19th-century kilns were used to make coke, a key Ingredient in steel production. THE death of the cockle-pickers in Morecambe Bay has added to its reputation for being a deadly area for the unwary. Read about our approach to external linking. Ghosts (2006 film) - Wikipedia Yet many of the underlying causes, and especially the role of gangmasters, remain unresolved. It is as though the Chinese tragedy became a triumph, a vindication of Britain's way of dealing with disaster. The headlines from China were full of disbelief. Mandarin, Fuzhou dialect, English. Bo and Yan Li were jailed in 2009 for a scam linked to the deaths of the cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay in 2004. 17 cockle pickers of eastern European origin were saved at the River . All rights reserved. They were staying at a hotel in Chippenham in Wiltshire and staff found 22,000 hid in a locker during routine checks. The 17-year-old's schoolwork is suffering. Her miserable red-brick cottage grovels at the feet of neighbouring multi-storeys - designed in a European style with Greek pillars and pediments. "So it had a lasting effect on them," he added. He already had four mouths to feed. That afternoon, she ate with her grandson during his lunch break. Xu says her brother went overseas after his mother was diagnosed with cancer. 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. Xu Liying knows just how hard life can be without any support from society, the state or charity. They realise we have problems," says Chen. Jeremy Clarkson slammed for joke about death of 23 Chinese cockle-pickers "We have no family home, no land. Su Zhenqin has seen her life go backwards since the Morecambe deaths on the night of February 5 2004. BBC NEWS | UK | England | Lancashire | Tide kills 18 cockle pickers The events of that . 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. "Dad's only wish is that you study harder and harder and never act too proud. Those who sent them to their deaths have not been punished as much as us." "Usually all we have to eat is noodles and rice. 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. Mr Hua agreed to be interviewed and talk about the disaster almost 10 years on. "I dare not tell my sons about our debts. He must be able to hear everything anyway, if not this time, then on countless previous occasions. 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. The uncle, who earns 1,500 yuan per month, has repaid 20,000 yuan, but still owes 150,000. "Building up hidden communities and building a life below official recognition.". I know it would influence them in a bad way. Morecambe tide faster than a man can run | The Scotsman If we're to learn the lessons of the Morecambe Bay tragedy, we need to invest in improving conditions. The boy is lying on the bed, still flicking through a comic book. "But my mother almost never stops crying. "I was so tired last year that I had to stop and rest. These workers had no knowledge of the sea and hadn't been given any safety equipment or guidance by their gangmaster. "There's the same number of unlicensed gangmasters as there is licensed, in the food-processing industry, for instance. The family is still in trouble. "It was very harrowing. I ask Chen how the family will manage. Abstract. It is not migrant workers per se but their exploitation that undermines local wages. "The brother is 16 and he doesn't study hard. On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Others are furious and threaten to beat me. A unique sculpture calls the outside of this steakhouse home. Cockle Bay - YouTube He went to Europe to make up for that: if he had succeeded, everyone would have benefited. Now the creditors never stop bothering us." "We once lived in the hills, but it was too remote, too far away from the nearest school, so we moved," he says in a thick local dialect. They cook a little extra and bring some for us. A sculpture of a praying man overlooking Morecambe Bay has been unveiled. So why are the authorities unable to prevent this kind of situation arising? Even so, small expenses quickly mount up. They were each jailed for two years at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday. Freeman, of Wiggington Road in Tamworth, received a four-month jail term suspended for 12 months. "I've seen them crying when the local gang set fire to their cockles It was terrible. Now living under witness protection, he told BBC Inside Out of his "despair" before help arrived. 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. She shows me two photos of the father, Xu Yuhua, and mother, Liu Qinying, taken a week or so before the disaster. "My plan is to work in Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald's. Mr Guy said: "At that stage they effectively came into a sea of bodies. A decade ago 23 Chinese cockle pickers drowned when they were trapped by sweeping tides while working in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire. Morecambe Bay cockling disaster - Wikipedia Thanks to satellites and modern communications, the bad luck bounced across the globe almost instantly. It was unbearable," recalls Lin in a matter-of-fact voice as her own mother sobs at her side. Think the car is still there completely buried, but surfaces occasionally when the channels change. A week after she died, in 2004, I visited the family's home.