morecambe bay cockle pickers
Her only income - 300 yuan (20 a month) - comes from mixing concrete on building sites for other people's new houses. They need to be repaid. If anyone gets sick, it will be a total disaster for all of us. Her brother and his wife were the only couple to die on the Lancashire sands, leaving their son an orphan. It is not that I don't want to pay. Each time one of the children catches a cold, the family must pay a few hundred yuan for medicine. 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 . 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. Photograph: Don McPhee for the Guardian, en years ago this week, 23 men and women lost their lives searching for cockles in Morecambe Bay. A unique sculpture calls the outside of this steakhouse home. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. I was just lucky.". I just can't. In fact, these . "I was on my own And then a helicopter came," he said. Widow Lin Meiqin, who lives in China's Fujian province, has never remarried after her husband Lin YouXing died in the bay at the age of 38. He does everything he is told without complaint or enthusiasm. The Chinese cockle pickers died in 2004 when they were caught in the rising tide at Bolton-le-Sands near Morecambe, Lancashire. 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. What is inside is almost irrelevant. 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. [8] A further two cocklers were believed to have been with those drowned, with remains of one being found in 2010. 17 cockle pickers of eastern European origin were saved at the River . 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. Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation. In this boring Europe, I miss you and mother and our relatives very much. "Someone told them that we had received compensation from the UK, but it is not true. Memories of the tragedy may have faded in the public mind. "Some are polite. The sculpture can be easy to miss. And perhaps some fatty scraps of meat. 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. It is a short, scrawled tale of misery: "Wife. 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 family has had to move. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Only 21 bodies were recovered following the Morecambe Bay tragedy but police believe 23 people died. But returning to Fujian more than three years later, I find that familiar lament greeting me as I enter the home of Chen Yanchun, who has met me at the airport and sobbed for most of the 50-minute drive to see her family. 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. Mr Hua said: "It was pitch black and I was desperate. Tracy Brown, a Morecambe town councillor, told the Daily Telegraph that the remarks were "beneath . 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. When 23 Chinese cockle pickers died at Morecambe Bay in 2004, the gangmaster was caught and convicted, bodies were repatriated, the disaster tidied away. 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. His evidence helped convict Lin Liang Ren of 21 counts of manslaughter, facilitating illegal immigration and perverting the course of justice. It took a year to reach Morecambe. 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.". Mon Nov 15 2004 - 00:00. He believes the small gangmasters not following the rules may get caught, but the large ones are still out there. Morecambe Bay - Wikipedia His father went overseas to earn enough for his tuition. Offer subject to change without notice. We do not have a lot of money but we are happy to go through each day peacefully and I am very thankful And glad to be alive," Mr Hua added. The deaths exposed an underground. Gangmaster Lin Liang Ren would drive the workers to Morecambe from Liverpool and visit casinos while the men and women toiled through the night. 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. 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. 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. Please, The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. The walls are cracked. Mr Hua was speaking to the BBC under the protection of the government's UK Protected Persons Service. 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. Ten years ago this week, 23 men and women lost their lives searching for cockles in Morecambe Bay. Dependants Wife Su Zhenqin and two daughters aged 10 and 14 Debt 300,000 yuan (19,900) Monthly income 300 yuan (20). 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. ", 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. Read about our approach to external linking. Mr Hua said: "I could not believe I was being rescued and I was alive again.". Michael Guy, lifeboat operations manager was on duty that night. Morecambe Bay cockle-picker tragedy: Sisters jailed again 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. But we quickly ran out of things to eat so I had to start working again. Five of them depend on Yu's father's factory salary of 750 yuan. [11], Gangmaster Lin Liang Ren was found guilty of the manslaughter of at least 21 people (two further cocklers were thought to have been killed, but their bodies were never found). The siblings have been separated. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. With China's economy racing along at double-digit pace and huge inflows of cash from overseas, this region has never had it so good. It was freezing cold but I didn't feel it. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? The money had been stashed by Yan Li's boyfriend Philip Freeman, 64. Now we are on our own. But the family is subsisting rather than living. 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 families' huge debts are now owed to relatives, friends and neighbours. Those who sent them to their deaths have not been punished as much as us." 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. Fifteen other labourers from the same group managed to return safely to shore.[2]. He earned a lot in his first year and wrote to say that he was happy in Britain. "The only way I can bear life now is to imagine that he is still alive.". A family portrait in 2004 shows the couple smiling with their two children. Mr Gradwell claimed other similar disasters could still occur because people are willing to exploit the poorest in society for their own ends. 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. I thought I might just as well wait to die. During the subsequent investigation and trial, it emerged that the labourers were inexperienced, spoke little or no English and were unfamiliar with the area. "When the GLA was first introduced we were hopeful that it would be extended into other sectors but that's proven not to be the case," he said. Sole survivor cockle picker slave of Morecambe disaster - The Sun 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. ", Her sick brother-in-law says he feels like an extra burden. The death of 19 cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay has added to its reputation for being a deadly area for the unwary. 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. And well beyond 2004 cockle pickers have had to be rescued. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. He already had four mouths to feed. 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. For its part, the GLA accepts exploitation exists in other industries and insists it could be more of an "effective deterrent" with extra resources. The contrast is visually disturbing, a reminder that China is crushing several centuries of development into a few decades. A memorial garden for the victims of the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy has been unveiled. "The Devil's beach," one newspaper cried. Yet, 10 years on, campaigners say workers are still being dangerously exploited in the UK. 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. Education - supposedly free - costs more than 2,000 yuan (132) a year. "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. The horrors imprinted on my mind, says Li Hua. 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. Song Xinyao is a smart 17-year-old who dreamed of going to university. "We all came for the same reason. 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. 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. "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. She refuses. "The scenario of migrant workers being promised a better life by working for a gangmaster on farms in the UK but then finding they're paid far less then they've been promised less than the minimum wage isn't uncommon." I am paralysed most of the time. 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. They have done nothing wrong. In Westminster, Mr Sheridan has tabled an early day motion to mark 10 years from the tragedy. 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 . Li said: "I wanted to get justice for those who died. 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. They used houses and shops in Shirley in Solihull, and Dudley to run their operation, it said. Mr Hua was speaking to the BBC under the protection of the government's UK Protected Persons Service. 152 Morecambe Cockle Pickers Premium High Res Photos - Getty Images ", She shows me round her home. In any case, she says, her son no longer wants to go to school. At a confiscation hearing in 2011, Bo, 46, and Yan, 43, were ordered to pay back about 1m which they had made. "Sometimes I think if he hadn't died I would live a better life.". This crude architectural hierarchy marks Zhou Xiaomei out as a failure. Is climate change killing Australian wine? The Morecambe Bay victims were aged between 18 and 45, Jurors in the manslaughter trial were taken out on the sands in a hovercraft. The Praying Shell - Bolton-le-Sands, England - Atlas Obscura ", Among all the people I meet in Fujian, Lin has come the furthest to talk but appears to have the lowest expectations. In March 2006, Ren was jailed for 14 years at Preston Crown Court. The RNLI searched the waters to find the cocklers. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. The dangers of Morecambe Bay, where 23 Chinese cocklers lost their lives in 2004, include fast-rising tides and quicksands. Morecambe Bay cockle-picker tragedy: Sisters jailed again An unusual artwork dedicated to a unique man that entertained people visiting Cambridge while raising money for charity. 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 . Almost a decade after the disaster, Mr Hua said he still has panic attacks. "He told us the water was up to his neck and asked us to pray for him," says his wife. I have a serious disease. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). . [3][4] The workers had been trafficked via containers into Liverpool, and were hired out through local criminal agents of international Chinese Triads. Mr Hua agreed to be interviewed and talk about the disaster almost 10 years on. 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. "I thought I might just as well wait to die. The creator, artist Anthony Padgett stated that the sculpture was designed to inspire walkers venturing along the bay. The hon. [18], The 2007 folk song "On Morecambe Bay" by folk artist Kevin Littlewood tells the story of the events. "It was pitch black and I was desperate," he said. 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. 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. Read about our approach to external linking. 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. And with that, he slips back into the background. The widow's house is easy to spot in Shangjiang village. A tribute to the Morecambe Bay Chinese cockle pickers and the talent of Christy Moore. 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. Even so, small expenses quickly mount up. Some 30 cockle pickers set out at 4 pm. Was a May Day Attack by Pilgrims a Practice Run for a Massacre? 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.". Chen says that is impossible now. Mr Hua agreed to be interviewed and talk about the disaster almost 10 years on. One creditor, a cousin, has sued her in court, saying she must remarry to clear her debt. Read about our approach to external linking. The authorities in Beijing have washed their hands of the matter. She refuses to accept that her son is dead. I tell them I am not worth killing. 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". The uncle, Chen Minyi, said he could not afford to keep them both, so the son stays with another aunt. Ghosts (2006 film) - Wikipedia ", The scars of Morecambe's cockling disaster, North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, 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. Morecambe Bay cockling disaster's lasting impact - BBC News Others are furious and threaten to beat me. She is wearing a white dress and her husband Wu Hongkang is in a western suit. Even in grief there is competition. It is the complications that unsettle him. Mr Gradwell claimed other similar disasters could still occur because people are willing to exploit the poorest in society for their own ends. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Morecambe Bay cockling disaster 15 years on: Lost lives remain "great The court heard Freeman removed the money before police were able to catch up with him, and drove it to a house in Solihull where Bo Li's boyfriend, John Bowkett, 65, lived. 'I heard them screaming as they drowned around me - The Sun 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. But it is near the creditors so they used to come knocking all the time.
