Abstract

In 2004, the bodies of 21 Chinese illegal immigrants were found on the shores of Morecambe Bay in the northwest of England. Hired by gangmasters to pick cockles – a type of British shellfish delicacy – the group, mostly made up of young men in their twenties and thirties, were trapped by incoming tides and died as a result. The high-profile tragedy shone the spotlight on the underground world of local gangmasters and more generally, highlighted the risks and dangers of clandestine migration into the British economy.