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", Yu went to Inner Mongolia for a few months to work. Alan Sledmore, who guides people across the bay, said "The area is very . The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. They became trapped by rising tides and were swept out to sea. 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. The contrast is visually disturbing, a reminder that China is crushing several centuries of development into a few decades. The son, Lin Zhifan, was also poorly educated - quitting school before he was 16 so that he could work in a factory. Select from premium Cockle Pickers Work At Morecambe Bay of the highest quality. He said he "kept waving" at the helicopter. 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. As they stare into the camera, I notice the painfully inappropriate English slogan emblazoned on her T-shirt. "When my son came back home, he thought she was still asleep." But she is dragged into poverty by debt and dependants. Morecambe Bay cockling disaster, 2004 - BBC Archive Published 7th Feb 2004, 00:00 BST. "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. File photo: Lancashire Police. it says. Then she went upstairs and swallowed a bottle of rat poison. But the Japanese police were very good. Oneupmanship does not come much more literal. 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. He would be reunited with his wife as soon as hed found somewhere of his own to live, he was told. Money, though, is clearly the main driving force in a country where communist values have long since given way to a dog-eat-dog culture. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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. They didn't beat me, not even once.". Registered in England No. Everything he says lives up to the archetype of the downtrodden peasant. 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. Eighteen cockle pickers have died after becoming trapped by rising tides in Lancashire's Morecambe Bay. But, unlike his father, he refused to accept that poverty was his lot in life. A tribute to the Morecambe Bay Chinese cockle pickers and the talent of Christy Moore. 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. Bags of cockles on Morecambe beach as the search mission goes on. 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. "Usually all we have to eat is noodles and rice. We are so poor. Twenty years ago, the two-storey, red-brick building was probably the envy of the neighbourhood. 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. Dependant Son Xu Bin, 17 Debt More than 200,000 yuan (13,250) Monthly income 1,200 yuan (80). Like most victims, Zhou's husband Cao Chaokun was not well educated. Bo and Yan Li were jailed in 2009 for a scam linked to the deaths of the cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay in 2004. The headlines from China were full of disbelief. Dependants Son Cai Zhixiang, 16, daughter Cai Huiling, 13 Debt 150,000 yuan (9,940) Monthly income 2,000 yuan (132). ", She shows me round her home. These workers had no knowledge of the sea and hadn't been given any safety equipment or guidance by their gangmaster. Chen says she has sold her wedding jewellery and persuaded the creditors to stop charging 10% interest. Only 21 bodies were recovered. Education - supposedly free - costs more than 2,000 yuan (132) a year. 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. Others are furious and threaten to beat me. No purchase necessary. Now he had inherited two more and a debt of 150,000 yuan (9,940). By The Newsroom. It is not that I don't want to pay. introduced after the 2004 tragedy has led to a reduction in the number of illegal cockle pickers in the Bay. "They put me in prison for a year. A decade ago 23 Chinese cockle pickers drowned when they were trapped by sweeping tides while working in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire. A unique sculpture calls the outside of this steakhouse home. Almost a decade after the disaster, Mr Hua said he still has panic attacks. Fifteen other labourers from the same group managed to return safely to shore.[2]. Both Freeman and Bowkett were ordered by the judge to each pay 10,000 costs. 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 pitch black and I was desperate," he said. 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. The RNLI searched the waters to find the cocklers. The creditors haven't started to harass him yet because they know he is just a kid, but they will when he grows up. Almost a decade after the disaster, Mr Hua said he still has panic attacks. 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. Morecambe's RNLI crew worked for 22 hours during the search and rescue operation. But the family is subsisting rather than living. I thought I might just as well wait to die. In fact, these . 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. The Praying Shell artwork, carved in limestone, sits above the site where 23 Chinese cockle pickers working for. When he died it was such a loss. This abandoned limestone quarry now provides visitors with multiple, breathtaking viewpoints. He has seen what they are like when they are here.". The only decorations on the walls are some Christian posters and a portrait of her dead husband, Lin Guoguang. "The families who lent us the money are also poor. "The only way I can bear life now is to imagine that he is still alive.". Guo Binlong's brick-making business failed in China, so he went to Britain. 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. All were working illegally, picking cockles for hours on end to send money back to their families. The Fujian style of mourning is somewhere between a lament and an undulating, almost melodic wail of misery. 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 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. 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.". In sharp contrast, the dead man's mother is almost silent. Mr Hua said: "It was pitch black and I was desperate. Lin Liang Ren was jailed for 14 years in 2006 after being found guilty of manslaughter and helping the cockle pickers break immigration laws. The death of her husband Dong Xinwu has left them with a debt of 240,000 yuan and no breadwinner to pay it back. 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. "The Devil's beach," one newspaper cried. Some 30 cockle pickers set out at 4 pm. The sculpture can be easy to miss. "It is not fair for the children. 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." The Morecambe Bay cockle pickers tragedy: a survivor's story 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. [7] Ren, his girlfriend Zhao Xiao Qing and his cousin Lin Mu Yong were also convicted of breaking immigration laws. 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. Her salary of 1,200 yuan (80) a month, from a Singaporean trading company, would normally ensure a modest but secure existence in Fujian. Inset: bodies being removed after the disaster. The focus of the family's concern is on the youngest member. We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. Last time I was back there, word quickly got round and before I knew it there were 10 of them pressing me to repay our debts. The eldest son has done his best to honour that final wish, but it is becoming more difficult.