Correspondent: Dying to Leave Tx Date: April 2001 This script was made from audio tape - any inaccuracies are due to voices being unclear or inaudible 00.00.00 00.00.07 Olenka Frenkiel It's shortly before dawn on February the 19th 2001. Fifty-eight coffins are unloaded from an aircraft in southern China, under strict security. 00.00.19 Olenka Frenkiel The families of the dead have been told to wait at their villages. 00.00.27 Olenka Frenkiel The bodies have been sent from England. They were discovered in a container truck at Dover Ferry Port last June. 00.00.40 Olenka Frenkiel Their families are kept away from the airport. 00.00.46 Olenka Frenkiel The Chinese government wants the return of these bodies kept quiet. For them, Dover has been a serious embarrassment. 00.01.01 Olenka Frenkiel The families had paid huge sums to smuggle their men abroad. Now they must bury them in shame. 00.01.08 Olenka Frenkiel Victims of the people traffickers - the men known as 'snakeheads'. 00.01.15 Correspondent Theme Music 00.01.25 Title Page Dying TO LEAVE 00.01.27 Music 00.01.38 Olenka Frenkiel At the village of Houlein, in Fujian Province, they're waiting for the body of Liu Zhenquan. He was twenty-five. 00.01.45 Music 00.01.46 Olenka Frenkiel It's a year since he left his mother, his wife, brothers, sisters and his baby son to seek his fortune in England. 00.01.56 Olenka Frenkiel An escort accompanies the army truck, which brings him home. There must be no mistakes. The government in Beijing wants this ended. Quickly. Without fuss. 00.02.07 Music 00.02.12 Olenka Frenkiel They don't want trouble from the families. It's a precise operation - one body, one truck. 00.02.19 Music 00.02.26 Olenka Frenkiel Local officials have little sympathy for the families. For the government, they're to blame for a humiliating mess. 00.02.32 Music / Women crying 00.03.02 Olenka Frenkiel But the officials are here to ensure that body number fifty-seven is buried without incident. 00.03.08 Music 00.03.22 Aston XUE SHUFANG Voice over My mind was a blank. I wasn't thinking. All I could do was cry. How could Zhenquan go away a healthy man and come back in a coffin? But we couldn't open the coffin. They wouldn't let us open the coffin. 00.03.43 Music 00.03.56 Aston XU RUIYING Voice over I was thinking; Zhenquan, I raised you in hardship, you will never live to see me pass away. Instead I have to bury you. Why is life so cruel? 00.04.15 Olenka Frenkiel Zhenquan's widow, Shufang, in her linen funeral veil, laments the price of their lost gamble. They paid the snakeheads twenty thousand dollars, a sum they had to borrow. Now they need it back. 00.04.28 Music 00.04.41 Olenka Frenkiel The villagers join the family in the ritual funeral procession. But none of them is shocked. They too have smuggled relatives abroad and they know that death is the ultimate risk. 00.04.52 Women crying / Music 00.05.05 Olenka Frenkiel For the snakeheads, the return of Liu Zhenquan's body means trouble. 00.05.11 Olenka Frenkiel Trouble from the government, furious at this public loss of face. 00.05.14 Music 00.05.17 Olenka Frenkiel And trouble from angry relatives. 00.05.22 Olenka Frenkiel They're crying now but soon they'll want their money back. 00.05.24 Music / Women crying 00.05.42 Xue Shufang Voice over I still dream of him coming home. We'd borrow money and throw a feast for the whole village. If only that could happen, that's what we really hoped for. We never imagined it would end like this. 00.06.07 Olenka Frenkiel Shufang's dreams had looked quite different. 00.06.13 Olenka Frenkiel If the plan had worked she'd soon be joining her wealthy neighbours in the village, Fujian's new rich with villas and cars and model picture-postcard children. 00.06.29 Olenka Frenkiel She'd have her share in the spoils of this growing migrant economy, where husbands send money from the sweatshops and restaurants of Tokyo, London and New York. 00.06.44 Olenka Frenkiel And these are the have-nots with whom Shufang must remain. 00.06.48 Olenka Frenkiel Once it was held that poverty and hard work were honourable. Now, in the shadow of their rich neighbours, they feel nothing but shame. 00.07.01 Olenka Frenkiel The village is awash with money to lend for a ticket to the promised land. 00.07.09 Olenka Frenkiel Interests rates are high but the profits are huge and few count the cost of failure. 00.07.17 Olenka Frenkiel Shufang's husband was just one in the endless stream of clients for the snakeheads. 00.07.27 Xue Shufang Voice over Zhenquan had friends in England. They made big money in no time at all and sent it home to build grand houses. Zhenquan met Gao, the snakehead, through a friend. The snakehead told him he'd helped many people go abroad. He said he had good connections with officials everywhere, even in the central government in Beijing. The snakehead said; 'don't worry, I've been doing this for a decade, it's no big deal'. 00.07.58 Music 00.08.04 Olenka Frenkiel Fujian is half the size of Britain but most of it is mountainous and farmland is scarce. 00.08.12 Olenka Frenkiel Men have always left Fujian for work abroad. It started centuries ago. Today there are men from Fujian in seventy-four countries. For every three Fujianese at home there is one overseas. 00.08.23 Music 00.08.26 Olenka Frenkiel Women like Shufang have little idea of the hurdles their husbands face, as they scrape a living and wait for their money to be sent home. 00.08.34 Music 00.08.42 Xue Shufang Voice over Zhenquan said to me; 'I work so hard and make only about ten thousand yuan a year, we live such a frugal life. People make the same in just one month in England, if I go abroad for a few years, I can build a big house and take care of my wife and son.' 00.09.07 Olenka Frenkiel No one imagined what lay in store for Zhenquan the day the snakehead took him. 00.09.21 Xu Ruiying Voice over My son was crying. He patted me on the head; he'd never done that before. He stroked me on the face, the head, the arms. I warned him; 'if it's not a direct flight don't go, come back'. 00.09.45 Xue Shufang Voice over From then on he hardly called. He didn't have any money. Then he called and said; 'I'm not there yet, it'll take another few days'. That's the last we heard from him. 00.09.58 Aston June 19th 2000 00.09.58 News Reporter Two Customs Officers making a routine inspection in Dover opened up a Dutch container lorry supposed to be carrying tomatoes but the officers were confronted with the bodies of fifty-eight people. Organised crime may have been involved. 00.10.15 Olenka Frenkiel Zhenquan died gasping for breath. 00.10.20 Olenka Frenkiel As the British began their investigation, photos of the dead were sent to the police in China but with millions of Fujianese away, working abroad, it took months to identify them and trace them to their homes. 00.10.33 Olenka Frenkiel At first the families denied their men were missing. 00.10.40 Xu Ruiying Voice over The police came again and again and asked if my son had called from England. I said I didn't know what they were talking about. They showed me a picture of Zhenquan. I didn't believe them, I couldn't believe my son was dead. 00.11.00 Xue Shufang Voice over I went to the police station the next day to look at the photo. Of course it was him. It looked exactly like him. He was lying there like this, looking as if he was asleep. 00.11.23 Xue Shufang Voice over Zhenquan was a very good man. He treated me so well. My life is over. What's the point of life without him? 00.11.54 Olenka Frenkiel Chief Sergeant Lin of Guantou police station is under pressure. The town is notorious for its snakeheads and he's been brought in from outside the region. 00.12.03 Olenka Frenkiel Today he prepares to assemble his team. 00.12.07 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle Please come to my office for a meeting. 00.12.13 Olenka Frenkiel Beijing, he will tell them, wants to know why, six months after the fiasco at Dover, the majority of the ringleaders have still not been caught. 00.12.22 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles According to instructions from HQ, we are having a special operation... against the human traffickers. We can't afford to be smug. We've got nine snakeheads on our list... and they're still smuggling people out of here. 00.12.49 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles You two - change into plain clothes after this... and go and look out for Chen Xiaokong and Sun Zhenning. We know they are around... but they are not showing their faces in public. They are the targets for tonight's operation. 00.13.13 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles Li Meituan - go with some men, spread the word... make a noise and shake things up. Ding Zunhua - take the boat out and patrol the coastline for the next three days. I hope you will all concentrate... put your hearts and minds into it. Work together and make the operation successful... so we fill the quota and stem the tide of human smuggling. 00.13.51 Olenka Frenkiel But Fujian's coastline is two thousand miles long and defies control. 00.13.57 Olenka Frenkiel Six centuries ago its ports and shipyards were praised by Marco Polo. The Fujianese are proud of their seafaring history. 00.14.07 Olenka Frenkiel Even when the government closed China to the outside world and banned all travel, Fujian's merchant seamen could not be stopped. 00.14.16 Music 00.14.22 Olenka Frenkiel Today fishermen also face a tough choice. Fish stocks are running low. Some supplement their income by renting their boats to the snakeheads. Others are much in demand as helmsmen because they know the waterways so well. 00.14.37 Olenka Frenkiel But soon they too may choose to go abroad. 00.14.40 Music 00.14.44 Olenka Frenkiel It is this Fujianese compulsion to leave that so infuriates the central government in Beijing and the loyal policemen trying to lay down its law. 00.14.58 Aston Chief Sergeant LIN YIJIN Frontier Police Voice over Why are there still so many people desperate to go abroad? Our country is getting richer but its still a bit backward compared with others. Those who want to go abroad illegally do so because they feel they can't find a good job here. They imagine they'll make a fortune as soon as they get there. 00.15.33 Olenka Frenkiel It is still by sea that most Fujianese leave. Since Dover, the police coastguard have stepped up their patrols. 00.15.50 Olenka Frenkiel The snakeheads are always one step ahead. 00.15.57 Olenka Frenkiel The police checks rarely net a catch. They're fighting a low-tech war against a hi-tech foe, a multi-billion dollar industry with radar and satellites. 00.16.21 Olenka Frenkiel The Chinese government may talk of a crackdown but here in Fujian no one gets in the way of the human cargoes. 00.16.29 Olenka Frenkiel Six months after Dover, it's business as usual. 00.16.45 Olenka Frenkiel The biggest feast day of the Chinese calendar is approaching, the Spring Festival. 00.16.50 Olenka Frenkiel On the streets of Guantou, word is out - some of the snakeheads are coming home. 00.17.01 Chief Sergeant Lin Voice over Guantou is notorious for human trafficking. I was fully briefed when I was appointed to this job. And I was trusted. If something goes wrong with my work I'll be punished. 00.17.21 Olenka Frenkiel Tonight Lin is hoping to catch a man his team has been hunting for months, a well-known snakehead who ships his migrants by sea to Hong Kong in containers. 00.17.31 Olenka Frenkiel The snakehead's wife has been spotted buying food for his return. 00.17.36 Police raid flat 00.18.05 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle Where is your husband? 00.18.08 Woman Subtitle I don't know. He was at home during the day. 00.18.12 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles Where is he now? Answer me! 00.18.26 Olenka Frenkiel It's rare for the police to let a camera crew film this type of raid. 00.18.32 Olenka Frenkiel But the police are expecting to net a major catch. 00.18.39 Olenka Frenkiel Chief Sergeant Lin is keen to publicise their efforts. But too many officials are in on the plan. 00.18.46 Olenka Frenkiel Lin's crackdown is threatening the economic lifeblood of this province. 00.18.53 Olenka Frenkiel Someone has tipped the snakehead off. He's had ample time to flee. 00.19.07 Olenka Frenkiel Another human cargo arrives at Changle airport. 00.19.12 Olenka Frenkiel Seventy-four migrants have been caught and sent home. 00.19.19 Olenka Frenkiel It's barely a week since the fifty-eight bodies were returned from Dover but their death has done nothing to quell this traffic. 00.19.27 Olenka Frenkiel The police are desperate to unravel the complex network of snakeheads and middlemen behind this group. 00.19.35 Olenka Frenkiel But there are no snakeheads here. These are just their victims - migrants. To the Fujianese they're known as the tail of the snake, following their leader as the body of a snake follows its poisonous head. 00.20.01 Chief Sergeant Lin Voice over These people are pathetic; they don't consider the harm they do to our country's image. But we have to ask ourselves have we done enough to stop them? 00.20.21 Chief Sergeant Lin Voice over The government has repeatedly called for an end to smuggling. But they have their own ideas. So we must strengthen our crackdown and work harder to change public opinion. 00.20.45 Olenka Frenkiel It's a bad week to be caught - just as the spotlight has fallen on the Dover snakeheads. 00.20.51 Olenka Frenkiel The authorities will want to make an example of them. Their punishment will be harsh. 00.21.09 Olenka Frenkiel Shufang and her mother-in-law, Ruiying, want the twenty thousand dollars they paid for Zhenquan's passage to England returned. 00.21.20 Olenka Frenkiel But the snakehead won't release their money for fear of being implicated in the Dover disaster. 00.21.26 Olenka Frenkiel Helpless, they head for Fuching, the District headquarters, where they're going to see the police. 00.21.41 Olenka Frenkiel Fuching is one of China's richest cities with housing developments like this built from the wealth of migrants. 00.21.52 Olenka Frenkiel The population is only a million yet more than six billion dollars flow in every year from relatives abroad. The whole city is booming with families, business and the local government enjoying the benefits of the trade. 00.22.08 Olenka Frenkiel All courtesy of the snakeheads. 00.22.15 Olenka Frenkiel Shufang and her mother-in-law want their share. In a society where poverty is disgrace, they're determined not to be cheated. 00.22.30 Xu Ruiying Subtitles When we get our money back we'll buy you something beautiful. So you don't have to wear hand-me-downs. 00.22.38 Xue Shufang Subtitle Please, let's not talk about it now. 00.22.47 Olenka Frenkiel They've been to the police before but so far they've got nothing. They carry the taint of Dover, which everyone wants to forget. 00.22.58 Olenka Frenkiel Still they come to vent their frustration believing the police will help. 00.23.05 Xu Ruiying Subtitles I have been here at least 100 times. Why can't I get our money back? Where is it? Snakehead Gao denies everything. 00.23.29 Policeman Subtitle Please sit down. 00.23.32 Policeman Subtitles You know your son broke the law when he went to England. The government is strongly against the smuggling of people. It can cause so much harm to the family. Even death - you should realise this. 00.23.48 Xue Shufang Subtitles We did everything properly. We didn't do anything wrong. 00.23.55 Xu Ruiying Subtitles We are so poor. I borrowed the money at high interest rates. I've been to the bank, the city government... the police, everywhere. No one can help me. Why? 00.24.11 Policeman Subtitles We will try our best to get your money back. I'll let you know as soon as it happens. 00.24.17 Xu Ruiying Subtitles People have been lying to me for six months. Just tell me one thing - where is the money? 00.24.28 Policeman Subtitle You should tell all this to the court. 00.24.32 Xu Ruiying Subtitle The snakehead said not to go to court. 00.24.36 Policeman Subtitles Don't listen to the snakehead have faith in the government. We are doing our best to crack down on the snakeheads. Give me all the evidence and I will report to my boss. We will do it as fast as possible. You must not worry. Have faith in the government, OK? 00.25.03 Olenka Frenkiel Shufang is beginning to wonder if they'll ever see their money. 00.25.12 Olenka Frenkiel The Spring Festival, China's most important holiday, is beginning. Snakeheads, returned migrants, the whole community gather to celebrate the fruits of their illegal trade. 00.25.23 Music 00.25.35 Olenka Frenkiel There's money to spend on expensive fireworks and lavish gifts. It's a time for all to show off their success. 00.25.46 Sirens 00.25.56 Olenka Frenkiel And it's a perfect day for the government to make its point. And send a message that in the aftermath of Dover they can no longer turn a blind eye to illegal migration. 00.26.22 Olenka Frenkiel The engine of human trafficking that drives this province is an open secret. But today seventeen snakeheads, lower ranking middlemen mostly, are brought to a local school to be prosecuted in public. 00.26.37 Olenka Frenkiel It's a graphic warning to the crowd of revellers. Punishment and humiliation await anyone caught involved in this trade. 00.26.49 Judge Subtitles To punish those engaged in human traffic severely... the People's Court of Lianjiang County... has organised this public prosecution meeting today. Not all the traffickers have been caught. Some major ones are still operating from hiding. Human trafficking is likely to continue in our county. So we cannot afford to relax. We must enforce the crackdown. 00.27.21 Judge Subtitles We call on you, the masses, to participate... in the comprehensive management of law and order. To help eagerly in our crackdown on human trafficking... and report the criminals to us... to ensure social stability, progress and economic reform. 00.27.48 Woman judge Subtitles According to clauses 321 and 67 of the criminal law... the accused Chen Qingjian... the accused Lin Naijin and Chen Qingqun... have been found guilty of transporting people across the border. They will be sentenced to 18 months in prison... and fined 20,000 yuan each. 00.28.09 Olenka Frenkiel The police are hoping this will be a sufficient deterrent 00.28.20 Aston Chief Sergeant LIN YIJIN Frontier Police Voice over Why are we adopting more aggressive measures in our crackdown? From fine to imprisonment. Penalties, punishments and prosecutions are ways to teach those criminals to face up to their crimes and the masses will be educated as well. 00.28.56 Women crying 00.29.04 Olenka Frenkiel Shufang and Ruiying have come to a dead end. Despite all their efforts they still don't have their money. 00.29.17 Xu Ruiying Subtitles My son, you have left me behind. What am I going to do? 00.29.45 Olenka Frenkiel Villagers have come, apparently to console the women. But they have another motive. 00.29.51 Olenka Frenkiel They want the money back they lent them to pay for Zhenquan's trip to England. 00.29.58 Olenka Frenkiel Ruiying is consumed with helpless rage. The snakehead has offered a deal. If the women promise not to testify he'll return ten thousand dollars. It's only half what they paid him and Ruiying won't agree. 00.30.23 Aston XUE SHUFANG Voice over I told my mother-in-law Gao is well connected, unlike us. As a snakehead he is so rich he can bribe people with thousands of yuan. I wouldn't be surprised if people are trying to get him out now. Our money is in the snakehead's bank account and we can't get at it. Now people from whom we borrowed are demanding their loans back - what can we do? We'll kill ourselves if we can't get the money. 00.31.00 Olenka Frenkiel The Spring Festival is in full swing. For the returned migrants it's a rare break. 00.31.06 Fireworks 00.31.10 Olenka Frenkiel Throughout the rest of the year, far from home, theirs is a crippling routine. Sixteen hours a day at rates well below any minimum wage. 00.31.27 Olenka Frenkiel But the money they earn abroad has bought a comfortable early retirement for their parents. 00.31.36 Olenka Frenkiel With no need to work they meet at the centre for old people to play Mah Jjong and boast how much their sons are earning. 00.31.44 Olenka Frenkiel They debate which countries are the best to go to, which routes are the safest and which snakeheads are offering the best deals. 00.31.56 Olenka Frenkiel It's a mine of information for Chief Sergeant Lin who comes here to get his leads. 00.32.11 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle Do you know Zhongwen? 00.32.17 Man Subtitle I think so. 00.32.19 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle Do you know where he is? 00.32.21 Man Subtitles I'm not sure where he is... or where he lives or sleeps. 00.32.31 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle Where does he hang out, normally? 00.32.33 Man Subtitle I don't know. He's rarely at home. 00.32.39 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle What is he up to? 00.32.41 Man Subtitle I'm really not sure. 00.32.50 Olenka Frenkiel No one's willing to inform. They owe their prosperity to the snakeheads. No one will bite the hands that feed them. 00.33.02 Chief Sergeant Lin Voice over A lot of people here, including government officials, don't see the harm in people smuggling. They don't see anything wrong with it. This has created problems for us in our work. 00.33.20 Olenka Frenkiel At last Chief Sergeant Lin has a breakthrough. He's caught a man he believes is a Dover snakehead and he's locked up in this prison. Even the BBC carries the news. 00.33.31 News Reporter The Chinese government says it has found the man who allegedly ran the smuggling operation that resulted in the Dover tragedy. Chen Xiaokong was reportedly arrested in Fujian, the home province of the illegal immigrants who died. According to the report on Chinese official news agency, Cheng headed a snakehead gang. 00.33.56 Olenka Frenkiel But to nail him Lin needs a confession 00.34.03 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles Do you know about the Dover event? Are you personally involved? 00.34.14 Chen Xiaokong Subtitles I told you already... it has nothing to do with me. I was in Fuzhou. I heard that some smuggled migrants had died. But it is all hearsay. I have no idea who did it. 00.34.36 Olenka Frenkiel Lin is certain Chen Xiaokong's a Dover snakehead despite the wall of denial. He tries a different tack. 00.34.47 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles What is your relationship with Yang Yinmu? We've arrested him. 00.34.53 Chen Xiaokong Subtitle I don't know him well. 00.34.59 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle How many did he introduce to you? 00.35.03 Chen Xiaokong Subtitle Three people. 00.35.05 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitle And then? 00.35.07 Chen Xiaokong Subtitle Then I took them to Fuzhou to see my boss. 00.35.13 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles How much did you get for each person you took to the snakehead? 00.35.19 Chen Xiaokong Subtitle Nothing. 00.35.20 Chief Sergeant Lin Subtitles Really? Nothing? If it was successful? 00.35.25 Chen Xiaokong Subtitle Between $2,000 to $4,000 a head. 00.35.35 Chief Sergeant Lin Voice over Chen Xiaokong was arrested in 1996 because of his role in organising human trafficking. He was prosecuted then. But he went back to his old trade as soon as he got out of prison. 00.35.55 Chief Sergeant Lin Voice over Chen Xiaokong is a repeat offender and will be severely punished. He has a bad record. 00.36.04 Chen Xiaokong Voice over Everybody else in our town is in this line of business and I only played a minor role. I only introduced one or two people. If I committed any crime it couldn't be very serious. 00.36.21 Olenka Frenkiel It's often hard to tell who's who in the snakehead's operation. Yang Yinmu did do business with Chen Xiaokong. 00.36.31 Olenka Frenkiel He paid him to get his son to Canada. But sadly for Chief Sergeant Lin, Yang's too low down the smuggling chain to help nail the snakehead for Dover. And now Yang Yinmu's son has been caught too. 00.36.49 Yang Yinmu reading letter Subtitles Dear father... First, I want to ask how you are. Please don't worry about me. I am in Canada, but locked away in a prison. I feel terrible. 00.37.13 Aston YANG YINMU Voice over As a father, I depend on my son to make money. He's in his twenties, not making a penny. That's no good to me. 00.37.25 Yang Yinmu reading letter Subtitles We hardly had anything to eat on the boat. Then one person died on board. It was a serious situation. We stopped for three days. The man in charge kept calling the snakehead... asking him what to do. The snakehead said to throw the body into the sea. 00.38.21 Yang Yinmu Voice over Regrets? It's hard to say but we have to live with them. We only wanted to make some money, not to rob or steal. It was only for money. 00.38.38 Chief Sergeant Lin Voice over Someone like Yang Yinmu must have known he did something wrong, of course he knew. If not, why did he try to evade arrest and go into hiding? That's why we want to punish him. 00.38.58 Yang Yinmu Voice over One son died seven years ago. My other son went abroad and this happened. 00.39.23 Yang Yinmu Voice over I don't want to say anymore. I am so miserable. 00.39.28 Olenka Frenkiel Yang Yinmu can hardly be called a snakehead. Chen Xiaokong may be a bigger fish but the real snakeheads are out of reach so these small fry will have to pay the price. 00.39.43 Music 00.39.47 Olenka Frenkiel The Spring Festival reaches its climax with the annual procession for Ma Zu, the powerful Goddess of the sea. 00.39.55 Olenka Frenkiel She watches over seafarers as they brave danger, hardship and the unknown for the sake of a better life. 00.40.01 Music 00.40.08 Olenka Frenkiel She's the spiritual protector of Fujian. They believe the wealth of the province built on migrants is all due to her. 00.40.20 Priest Subtitles We pray for the good fortune of those abroad and travelling. May the old and young at home keep safe and sound. 00.40.30 Music 00.40.33 Olenka Frenkiel They give thanks, not just for the past but for the future. 00.40.37 Olenka Frenkiel More young people will soon be leaving. They too will need her blessing. 00.40.41 Music 00.40.48 Olenka Frenkiel The prayer on everyone's lips is - 'long may the lucrative Fujian tradition continue'. 00.41.03 Olenka Frenkiel Shufang stays at home. All she has left is her son and it'll be years before she's ready to let him go abroad. 00.41.18 Olenka Frenkiel According to custom she must prepare her dead husband's clothes for ritual burning. 00.41.43 Music 00.42.03 Olenka Frenkiel Ruiying is on her way to the village temple. She's tried everything she could. There is nothing left for her but prayer. 00.42.10 Music 00.42.31 Olenka Frenkiel This is where she came to pray for a son. This is where she prayed for his success when he left for England. 00.42.43 Olenka Frenkiel And this is where she came when she heard the news of his death. 00.42.48 Xu Ruiying Subtitles Almighty being, may you help my family... smoothe everything over for us. Protect the old and young. 00.43.00 Music 00.43.09 Olenka Frenkiel She's still hoping to get her money back from the snakehead. So far in the great Fujianese gamble she and her family have lost but there are enough winners here to keep this trade in humans flowing. 00.43.22 End Music 00.43.24 Credits www.bbc.co.uk/correspondent Reporter OLENKA FRENKIEL Dubbing Mixer PHITZ HEARNE VT Editor JASPAL BANGA Graphic Design NICOLA OWEN Production Manager JANE WILLEY Unit Manager IRENE OZGA Film Research NICK DODD Picture Editor RYSHARD OPYRCHAL Producer in China GUO LINGMEI Producer FRANK SMITH Director SUN SHUYUN Deputy Editor FARAH DURRANI 00.43.45 Editor FIONA MURCH BBC In association with EOS Films and Xiwu Arts, Beijing (c) BBC MMI 00.44.04 End BBC Correspondent 1 1