Video, On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry, Lin Liang Ren was jailed for 14 years in 2006, Research led by Durham University last year, 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. 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. "My neighbours and relatives help us. 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. He earned a lot in his first year and wrote to say that he was happy in Britain. "There is no precedent All we can do is wait.". A family portrait in 2004 shows the couple smiling with their two children. Now I have lost my parents. The emergency services were alerted by a mobile phone call made by one of the workers, who spoke little English and was only able to say "sinking water" before the call was cut off. The authorities were so pleased with the outcome of Operation Lund (as the case was called) that investigators won last year's top criminal justice award. 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 . Dependants Son Cai Zhixiang, 16, daughter Cai Huiling, 13 Debt 150,000 yuan (9,940) Monthly income 2,000 yuan (132). He added: "What's changed since Morecambe Bay? "I've seen them crying when the local gang set fire to their cockles It was terrible. "The Chinese workers were caught up in it," said local fisherman Gary Cheetham. "But we did not make any dent into these wider criminal gangs who traffic people around the world," he said. 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. These early 19th-century kilns were used to make coke, a key Ingredient in steel production. Mr Hua said: "I could not believe I was being rescued and I was alive again.". A memorial garden for the victims of the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy has been unveiled. Twenty years ago, the two-storey, red-brick building was probably the envy of the neighbourhood. Mr Hua was speaking to the BBC under the protection of the government's UK Protected Persons Service. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. "Sometimes I think if he hadn't died I would live a better life.". In 2004 23 cockle-pickers drowned after becoming trapped by rising tides in the Lancashire bay. When 23 Chinese cockle pickers died at Morecambe Bay in 2004, the gangmaster was caught and convicted, bodies were repatriated, the disaster tidied away. All but two of the bodies have been found, identified and repatriated. 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[2] The Chinese workers were unfamiliar with local geography, language, and custom. 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. [7] Four of the victims died after the truck they used to reach the cockling area became overwhelmed by water. Their father had died in an accident several years earlier, leaving the family deep in debt. Benson, like many local fishermen, believes it was the negligence not only of the gangmasters but also of the authorities that was responsible for the tragedy: "In the summer of 2003, I rescued 50 to 60 Chinese folk who were stranded while cockling for a gangmaster That should have been a warning." My husband is dead. That last conversation with her son crushed much of her will to live; the hounding by the creditors finished her off. It is the complications that unsettle him. On the evening of February 5, 2004, 23 men and women lost their lives after . Explore in 3D: The dazzling crown that makes a king. "We all came for the same reason. "She has lost her mind. Where things are going right, the success stories - of giddy growth, sudden wealth and market domination - entirely justify the country's image as the nascent superpower of the 21st century. They did not do anything illegal once they got to the UK. It was unbearable," recalls Lin in a matter-of-fact voice as her own mother sobs at her side. It is not just economic hardship that drives them, he says, but also tradition and a spirit of adventure. 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. 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", Dependants Wife Zhou Xiaomei and son Cao Xianyong 13, daughter Cao Meiyun 16 Debt 200,000 yuan (13,250) Monthly income 250 yuan (17). 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. Even so, small expenses quickly mount up. 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. ", At last year's trial in Britain, the boy wrote to the judge. "The situation is getting worse. One of them, Li Hua, was within seconds of becoming a victim. "Look at this house. "Maybe when the children are older, they can work and pay off our debts. Xu Liying knows just how hard life can be without any support from society, the state or charity. File photo: Lancashire Police. We must go on. It is a tale of globalisation, of events on one side of the world rippling to the other and back, each time with tragic consequences. She has not broken any laws, but the death of her husband in Morecambe has made her a fugitive from the family's creditors. By The Newsroom. "When my son came back home, he thought she was still asleep." The title is a reference to the Cantonese slang term Gweilo (), meaning "ghost man", used for white people . When he died it was such a loss. 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. Although this was a made-in-China and consummated-in-Britain tragedy, no one wants to take responsibility for the consequences. He already had four mouths to feed. I tell them I am not worth killing. It is a rough-hewn, empty house. But the Japanese police were very good. But 5,000 miles away in Fujian province, the tragedy has only deepened. The gangmaster Lin Liangren has been sentenced to 14 years in prison. Almost a year on, it has collected only 20,000, including 5,000 that ITV donated after its recent Bafta. 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. Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The contrast is visually disturbing, a reminder that China is crushing several centuries of development into a few decades. The problem is the creditors. I was just lucky.". Bags of cockles on Morecambe beach as the search mission goes on. Abstract. "Usually all we have to eat is noodles and rice. They became trapped by rising tides and were swept out to sea. In the Channel 4 documentary Benefits Street, viewers saw a group of Romanian workers who were owed wages by their gangmaster, who also held their passports. Instead of immigration vans, raids and endless spot checks, we need resources to be redirected into penalising exploitative employers and protecting workers. Under this government's war on regulation and "red tape", migrant workers continue to be subjected to exploitation at work. This barely covers half the interest payments. Among those who perished were an 18-year-old man and a husband and wife,. In the background of both is a British beach. Chen says she has sold her wedding jewellery and persuaded the creditors to stop charging 10% interest. In sharp contrast, the dead man's mother is almost silent. 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.". Xu appears to be a reasoning, reasonable woman. Her only income - 300 yuan (20 a month) - comes from mixing concrete on building sites for other people's new houses. Even in grief there is competition. I just can't. 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. As the GLA admits, the fines for exploitative employers have been too low to be a deterrent: if an employer makes an annual profit of 100,000 and pays a fine of 500 for breaking GLA rules, he may well carry on regardless. Then she went upstairs and swallowed a bottle of rat poison. Tracy Brown, a Morecambe town councillor, told the Daily Telegraph that the remarks were "beneath . (modern), A woman searching for cockles in Fujiyan. . Their mother, Chen Aiqin, went to work in Britain because she thought it was her family's only chance to escape poverty. Mr Hua said: "It was pitch black and I was desperate. I thought I might just as well wait to die. This crude architectural hierarchy marks Zhou Xiaomei out as a failure. 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. 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.". But we quickly ran out of things to eat so I had to start working again. 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. Are UK Asian gangs secretly exploiting cockle pickers? According to the Health and Safety Executive, migrant builders account for 17% of deaths on building sites, though they comprise only 8% of Britain's 2.3 million construction workforce. Zhao Xiao Qing was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months for facilitation of illegal immigration and perverting the course of justice. [2] Twenty-one bodies, of men and women between the ages of 18 and 45, were recovered from the bay after the incident. ", At the bottom, he tags on a brief message to their two sons. The money had been stashed by Yan Li's boyfriend Philip Freeman, 64. When the creditors come knocking - at least once a month for the past three years - he begs for more time. After they have paid the rent and utilities, there is barely enough for food. ", She shows me a letter she received from her husband before he died. 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. Because of a lack of resources its budget was cut by 17% between 2011 and 2014 the GLA's ability to investigate and prosecute employers is limited. eBook ISBN 9780429457357 ABSTRACT This case study describes an initiative titled Operation SeaQuest that was launched in the aftermath of a tragic incident in which 23 Chinese cockle pickers were drowned by the incoming tide in Morecambe Bay in Lancashire, United Kingdom. Jeremy Clarkson slammed for joke about death of 23 Chinese cockle-pickers The sculpture was actually imagined before the tragedy occurred in 2004. Yet, 10 years on, campaigners say workers are still . Morecambe Bay's cockling industry was catapulted into the national spotlight 15 years ago under disastrous circumstances. On board the worlds last surviving turntable ferry. Registered in England No. All four were convicted of money laundering at Birmingham Crown Court on September 20. One solitary figure stands at the edge of the sea, the sole survivor . "I am sorry I couldn't invite you to my place. The lessons of Morecambe Bay have not been learned Michael Guy, lifeboat operations manager was on duty that night. Mr Hua said: "It was pitch black and I was desperate. 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 refuses. Our close friends and relatives understand that we cannot pay, but the others gossip about me.". Outside, there are building materials for some home improvements that have been shelved indefinitely. "Building up hidden communities and building a life below official recognition.". He said: "I think a lot about those who didn't survive, particularly at Chinese New Year, because it happened around that time. (PDF) The Morecambe bay cockle pickers: market failure or government "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. The RNLI searched the waters to find the cocklers. He does everything he is told without complaint or enthusiasm. His mother, Shi Aizhu, took that call. Birds have nested in the roof. Song Xinyao is a smart 17-year-old who dreamed of going to university. 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. Photograph: Jonathan Watts, Audio slideshow: Jonathan Watts visits the families of the cockle pickers who died at Morcambe Bay three years ago. So why are the authorities unable to prevent this kind of situation arising? His wife joined him after local snakeheads told her that migrant men find mistresses if they are separated from their spouses for too long. She shows me two photos of the father, Xu Yuhua, and mother, Liu Qinying, taken a week or so before the disaster. 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 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. The Morecambe disaster was recognised as a crime by a British court. The family is still in trouble. We were not warned about the tides, never once, Albanians caught in cannabis farm raid acquitted as trafficking victims, Snakehead gangs fuel organised crime in UK. 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. Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation.