The drowning of the cockle hunters in Morecambe Bay, Lancashire, northwestern England on the night of February 5 deserves more than a ritualized shake of the head in horror and sympathy. 

Nineteen people were reported dead and 14 survived the tragedy. The British believe the victims were Chinese. Keeping in close contact with the British police, the Chinese government has asked the Chinese General Consulate to identify the victims as soon as possible.

More victims might be found as the rescue work continues. The British police suspect criminal involvement in the disaster.

The people who lost their lives in the tragedy were not just victims of Morecambe Bay. Although the investigation is still under way, from what has been found, it is almost certain that the shellfish-pickers, suspected illegal immigrants, were victims of criminal exploitation.

Morecambe Bay, a notoriously dangerous area with fast-rising tides and shifting sands, is a public fishery so just anybody can go to the beach and gather cockles.

It is estimated that the bay holds more than 6 million pounds (US$11 million) worth of cockles, luring people from all over Britain and beyond.

It is not illegal to pick cockles, but numerous groups of suspected illegal immigrants have been sent to Morecambe to work as cheap labor in the lucrative trade.

The so-called gangmasters cruelly exploit illegal workers, paying them a pittance yet forcing them to put their lives at risk.

It demonstrates yet again what can happen when the highly organized elements that are behind the trafficking operate globally and transport people for labor exploitation.

Laws need to be tightened in the murky world of gang labor, where gangmasters farm out migrant laborers, often illegally, to do poorly paid jobs in agriculture and unskilled industrial work like construction.

That the British police took the initiative to cooperate with the Chinese government is welcome.

Britain has stepped up the fight against illegal immigrants after 58 Chinese would-be immigrants died of suffocation in June 2000 in a lorry in which they were being smuggled into Britain.

China is firmly against illegal immigrants and stowaways.

Unless there is a radical reframing of policy on gang labor and strengthened cooperation worldwide to fight the multi-national crime of illegal migration there will be more tragedies like Morecambe.

(China Daily February 12, 2004)