Word: englands
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...caller's identity remains unknown, but his fate and that of 22 of his countrymen who died on that Feb. 5 night in 2004 was a reminder of the dangers facing illegal immigrants in Britain. Like many other Chinese migrants who find their way to northern England, those who died had found shift work as cockle pickers on the mudflats of Morecambe Bay. It was a cruel existence of grueling hours, perilous tides and pathetic pay, but one that largely escaped the notice of authorities and citizens...
...Last year, the 29-year-old told a snakehead, as traffickers who help smuggle Chinese abroad are known, that he was ready. Many of his friends and family members have already gone. Now it is his turn. He wants to follow his older brother to England, where he's heard that the need for cheap labor is so great that the police don't crack down on illegal immigration. Little Lin, who doesn't want his full name used, knows the journey will take months and cost at least $28,000, and that he will be in debt for years...
...many middle-class Chinese risk a perilous crossing, mountains of debt and years of grueling labor to start over in a strange land? Life in Fujian is not one of mass starvation or political persecution. But the lure of overseas gold remains great. When his restaurant in England is busy, Little Lin's brother, Big Lin, can make $600 a week, tax free, and despite his underground status, his life is hardly a misery. Big Lin does not know anyone who has been held hostage by a snakehead or enslaved in a factory. Nor has he ever been stopped...
...city of Fuzhou earns him $375 a month in peak season. With that salary, he can afford Levis and Internet sessions to learn about his future home. He prefers David Beckham to Wayne Rooney, and knows the pound-yuan exchange rate. Often, Little Lin talks with his friends in England through icq or text messages. "There is not so much distance between Fujian and England," he says...
...only that were true. The number and nature of countries between China and England are a bit fuzzy to Little Lin. But it's through these places that he will have to travel. The snakehead has promised Little Lin a real tourist visa to Russia, then a clandestine overland trip through Ukraine, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany and onward to England. Little Lin knows he will have to hide in vans and safe houses and subsist on rice gruel. But he is optimistic. Someone from his village recently arrived safely in England after using the same snakehead he has contacted...