China will send a five-member police team to help British authorities confirm the identity of the victims in the Morecambe Bay drowning incident, the Ministry of Public Security announced Thursday.

On February 10, British police informed China via Interpol that over 30 Asian cockle pickers had been trapped by rising tides in the bay on February 5, and 20 of them had been found dead. British police thought all of the victims were Chinese and asked Chinese police to help in the investigation.

Among the victims and survivors, only one kept her legal identity document. None of the others have legal documents nor do they speak English, according to British police.

Illegal migration is an international issue that has plagued many countries, including China. The government and police adhere to the policy of cracking down on illegal migration, the Chinese ministry said.

The ministry stressed that all those who are identified as illegal immigrants from the Chinese mainland will certainly be repatriated, and that China opposes any double standard on the issue.

Britain and China successfully cooperated over the tragedy in June 2000 when 58 illegal Chinese immigrants were found dead in a container truck at the British port of Dover.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2004)