Deadly Price Paid to Chase the Western Dream
Date: Thursday, February 24 @ 02:28:55 EST
Topic: Human Trafficking


By John-Paul Ford Rojas, PA News
the Scotsman
November 4, 2004

For the destitute and persecuted peoples of the world, the chance to make their way to the relative prosperity of the West may seem worth paying almost any price.

Many see the bright prospect of freedom from tyranny or opportunities to earn a living for themselves and their families as the light at the end of the tunnel.

But the reality of people smuggling is all too often far from their dreams of a better life.

They may be faced with exploitation in the sex trade or the prospect of illegal and sometimes dangerous employment to make ends meet.

Working virtually as slaves and housed in pitifully cramped conditions, they may struggle to pay back the thousands of pounds charged by unscrupulous traffickers for bringing them into the country.

All too often the consequences can be deadly – as evidenced by the deaths of 21 Chinese cockle pickers at Morecambe Bay in February.

They were swept out to sea as they worked at night in the dangerously dark conditions.

The incident threw light on a sad parallel world where illegal workers were packed into overcrowded homes to endure a life where they experience almost nothing but gruelling and lengthy days of toil.

Last year when a serious fire broke out in a three-bedroom house in King's Lynn, Norfolk, it was found to be housing up to 36 people who were being exploited for cheap and illegal labour.

But it was the tragic toll of Morecambe Bay that led to an outcry.

There was growing public pressure for ministers to do something about human trafficking and the gangmasters who exploited the misery of those involved in the shadowy black economy it fuels.

Home Secretary David Blunkett has said illegal working exploits vulnerable people as well as posing further problems for the country such as depriving the economy of tax and National Insurance contributions.

He has called it a “modern day slave trade run by organised criminals”.

The Home Office says that due to the very nature of the problem it is impossible to give a number for people working in the country illegally.

However a study four years ago found up to 1,400 women per year were trafficked into Britain – and did not take into account men or children.

The charity Anti-Slavery International puts the estimated figure for people trafficking across the world at close to 900,000 annually.

In Britain illegal workers can be found in a range of industries including food processing and packing, construction, catering, textiles, and contract cleaning while some are forced into prostitution.

Many migrant workers come to the country after paying up to £2,000 for visas and authorisations that turn out to be worthless.

Those without the cash to pay are offered loans at interest rates so steep they will never be able to repay them.

The route to these shores can itself often be fraught with the dangers of heavily-guarded borders, harsh terrain, and peril on the sea.

On top of that the need to be concealed from increasingly vigilant immigration officials and packed into cargo containers can and has proved fatal.

Four years ago the deaths of 58 Chinese people hidden in the back of a lorry found at Dover brought the issue sharply into relief.

The victims, who had each paid up to £20,000 to a be smuggled into Britain, had suffocated in the vehicle which had been brought over by ferry and its Dutch driver was jailed for 14 years for manslaughter.






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