More than 30 people picking cockles in Morecambe Bay, Lanchashire, Northwest England were caught by treacherous tides late Thursday. After almost a day's emergency rescue efforts, 19 of them were confirmed dead and 16 were rescued. Most of the victims of the tragedy are said to be Chinese.

Morecambe Bay is notorious for quick sand and swift tides. It's said the 30 started collecting at 3 pm on Thursday and were caught by rising tides which swept the beach too quickly for the shellfood collectors. Local police and emergency rescue services were called to the scene later that night but after extensive rescue work 19 people were confirmed drowned. Most of the dead were in their teens and twenties and two of them were women.

16 others survived the catastrophe. Of those fourteen are Chinese.

UK police are cooperating with Chinese embassy officials to identify the dead bodies and to help contact relatives of the victims. The police are also investigating how the tragedy happened and have pledged to bring criminal charges against anyone found to be responsible for putting the immigrants in danger. It's now widely believed that illegal people trafficking and exploitation of illegal immigrants for cheap labor were behind the tragedy.

China's embassy in the UK has reiterated Beijing's long standing opposition to illegal immigration. It says the illegal immigrants will be repatriated to China if found to be Chinese. But it said illegal immigration is a complicated international phenomenon and shouldn't be politicized. Offering political asylum encourages people-trafficking and won't serve to crack down on illegal immigration.

Illegal immigrants are often recruited for the risky job of harvesting some 6 million pounds worth of cockles which lie on the beach at Morecambe Bay. Some economists say Britain's relatively vibrant economy depends largely on an inflow of immigrant labor, but protecting illegal immigrants who work on the country's black market economy has proved very difficult.

Thursday night's tragedy has heightened the sense of urgency surrounding the plight of illegal immigrant workers working on the black economy in Britain. If the problem isn't addressed soon tragedies like Morecambe may be repeated.

(CRI February 7, 2004)