Everything he says lives up to the archetype of the downtrodden peasant. The 17-year-old's schoolwork is suffering. "The Devil's beach," one newspaper cried. Returning three years later, I find that he seems to have coped as well as can be imagined in the circumstances. 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. In Britain, the Morecambe Bay disaster is history. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? Lancashire | Cockle tragedy memorial unveiled - BBC News In Fujian, a man is judged by the height of his home. File photo: Lancashire Police. BBC NEWS | UK | England | Lancashire | Tide kills 18 cockle pickers 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. I ask. Cheetham says the Gangmasters Licensing Act, passed in 2004 after the tragedy, hasn't changed things much. 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. 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. . And they were gone just like that. The doctor says it won't be long. 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. ", She shows me round her home. The hon. But 5,000 miles away in Fujian province, on the south-eastern coast of China, lives are still being sucked into the sands. Read about our approach to external linking. During the subsequent investigation and trial, it emerged that the labourers were inexperienced, spoke little or no English and were unfamiliar with the area. In fact, these . We are so poor. The title is a reference to the Cantonese slang term Gweilo (), meaning "ghost man", used for white people . He went to Europe to make up for that: if he had succeeded, everyone would have benefited. I could earn 500 yuan in a month," he says. "We have no family home, no land. A powerful statue sits on Scalestone Point, looking out over Morecambe Bay. Song Xinyao is a smart 17-year-old who dreamed of going to university. Morecambe Bay cockle-picker tragedy: Sisters jailed again Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. As we drive away, I notice the propaganda slogan daubed on the walls of her house in big red characters: "Serve Economic Development. His wife joined him after local snakeheads told her that migrant men find mistresses if they are separated from their spouses for too long. Activists are concerned about the impact of funding cuts on working conditions. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. [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. ", The creditors have also suffered, she says. 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. 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. 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. At the moment, it is impossible. Charitable appeals have made little progress. "I was so tired last year that I had to stop and rest. 2023 BBC. Even so, small expenses quickly mount up. He has seen what they are like when they are here.". "Dad's only wish is that you study harder and harder and never act too proud. Our close friends and relatives understand that we cannot pay, but the others gossip about me.". On 5 February, Chinese cockle pickers were at work in the dark but facing the incoming tide. "Wait a moment," I interrupt. "There's the same number of unlicensed gangmasters as there is licensed, in the food-processing industry, for instance. "But we did not make any dent into these wider criminal gangs who traffic people around the world," he said. He died in Lancashire, so his mother killed herself in Fujian. But she feels a constant pressure. (PDF) The Morecambe bay cockle pickers: market failure or government "We cannot afford gas so I have to go up to the hill to get wood," she sobs. The authorities in Beijing have washed their hands of the matter. . "From time to time I wake up in the night with a panic attack and remember them. The Morecambe Bay cockle pickers tragedy: a survivor's story. "It still makes me sad whenever I come here. Now living under witness protection, he told BBC Inside Out of his "despair" before help arrived. "I adopted him as my son, but I am worried about his future," sobs his aunt. "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. "We dealt with the people who were responsible for the deaths on the night. "From time to time I wake up in the night with a panic attack and remember them. 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. "Sometimes I think if he hadn't died I would live a better life.". All rights reserved. "It was pitch black and I was desperate," he said. Cockle pickers - Morecambe Bay - 2004 - GLAA - Gangmasters and Labour Outside, there are building materials for some home improvements that have been shelved indefinitely. 'Risk to life just as real' as Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy There are some outlets just 10 minutes from here and I hear they pay OK, about three or four yuan [20-25p] an hour. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. They realise we have problems," says Chen. 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. It contains 10 pictures. 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.". 894646. And they were gone just like that. Memories of the tragedy may have faded in the public mind. Gang labour is common in the building trade, and poor health and safety under gangmasters has led to many injuries and, in some cases, deaths. 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. He makes no first impression, creates no fuss, just sits quietly waiting for his chance to speak while others are pulling at the heartstrings. [12], The 2006 film Ghosts, directed by Nick Broomfield, is a dramatisation of the events leading up to the disaster. Chen says she has sold her wedding jewellery and persuaded the creditors to stop charging 10% interest. Some creditors keep adding interest, which has pushed the debt to 300,000 yuan (20,000). The widow's house is easy to spot in Shangjiang village. Find Cockle Pickers Work At Morecambe Bay stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Dependants Wife Su Zhenqin and two daughters aged 10 and 14 Debt 300,000 yuan (19,900) Monthly income 300 yuan (20). The Gangmasters Licensing Authority is unsurprised. Artist Isaac Julien: 'I didn't know if I'd live on until the 90s. A lot 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. I know it would influence them in a bad way. 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 . Mr Hua agreed to be interviewed and talk about the disaster almost 10 years on. Hundreds of workers lined the Bay's sands in search for cockles, stretching out for miles in dangerous proximity to the treacherous rising tides. He believes the small gangmasters not following the rules may get caught, but the large ones are still out there. [9][1], At the subsequent hearing, British cocklers returning to shore on the same evening were reported to have attempted to warn the Chinese group by tapping their watches and trying to speak with them. I hope he is able to escape deep into the comic books he reads as his mother tells me of a disaster followed by a tragedy followed by years of hopelessness. Registered in England No. The problem has got worse and the resources directed to it are totally inadequate.". Work on Morecambe's cockle beds has ceased, and at the time action was promised to prevent such a tragedy happening again. 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. They did not do anything illegal once they got to the UK. That afternoon, she ate with her grandson during his lunch break. "I worry about their future," says the uncle. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. 96 minutes. The focus of the family's concern is on the youngest member. At a confiscation hearing in 2011, Bo, 46, and Yan, 43, were ordered to pay back about 1m which they had made. "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.". 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. In 2004 23 cockle-pickers drowned after becoming trapped by rising tides in the Lancashire bay. This abandoned limestone quarry now provides visitors with multiple, breathtaking viewpoints. She condemns the snakeheads for luring her brother and his sister overseas, she accuses the Chinese authorities of inhumanity because they would not let her see the bodies before they were cremated, and she is dismayed that Britain is treating the dead more as criminals than as victims. "So it had a lasting effect on them," he added. "I thought I might just as well wait to die. "They kept on and on at her. 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. 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. It is an impossible burden for a landless farmer who is too old to find work in a factory. If we're to learn the lessons of the Morecambe Bay tragedy, we need to invest in improving conditions. "My family are all healthy and we are happy. The father inherited his son's 100,000 yuan debt (6, 625). But she is dragged into poverty by debt and dependants. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. Professor Gary Craig, who led the study, said there was a "real problem" getting people to acknowledge that "slavery exists in the UK" and warned there were "accidents waiting to happen". Five of them depend on Yu's father's factory salary of 750 yuan. We left our families to make a better life. Everyone was panicking, they got out of the vehicle and tried to swim. Mr Gradwell claimed other similar disasters could still occur because people are willing to exploit the poorest in society for their own ends. I have a serious disease. 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. Mick Gradwell, who has retired from Lancashire Police, said: "You're thrown into investigating international organised crime gangs, snakeheads, triads, international human trafficking. Photograph: Don McPhee for the Guardian, en years ago this week, 23 men and women lost their lives searching for cockles in Morecambe Bay. "It was very harrowing. 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. It was the only way they could pay for the treatment. "I don't know how I will be able to pay for him if he succeeds. 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. Mr Hua said: "I could not believe I was being rescued and I was alive again.". The RNLI searched the waters to find the cocklers. The problem is the creditors. Read about our approach to external linking. Read about our approach to external linking. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. it says. The combination of rising flood waters and ferocious incoming tide meant the trapped cockle-pickers "didn't stand a chance", a sands expert said. ", Her sick brother-in-law says he feels like an extra burden. "So it had a lasting effect on them," he added. Eighteen cockle pickers have died after becoming trapped by rising tides in Lancashire's Morecambe Bay. ITV received a Bafta for its coverage of the seven-month trial, which ended in march last year. "Ha ha, smile!" Morecambe Bay. "She has lost her mind. Please, Main image: Morecambe Bay. 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Lin Guohua is at the bottom of the heap. "I am sorry I couldn't invite you to my place. [3] The favoured area for cockle picking is close to the low tide line near the confluence of the Keer Channel and the Kent Channel, approximately 3.5 kilometres (2.2mi) north of Morecambe. An . Xu Liying knows just how hard life can be without any support from society, the state or charity. "Look at this house. Winner will be selected at random on 06/01/2023. 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".
