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Geoff Lear recently contacted Dimsum to promote the unveiling of the memorial stone in Dover on Saturday 18th June. He is currently looking for Chinese people to attend the ceremony and to remember the 58 that died tragically five years ago.
Can you tell me about yourself how you were involved in the events of the 18th June 2000? I am a Dover port worker, but not for HM Customs & Excise, and I am not therefore involved in inspecting trucks. I was thus spared seeing any of the horrifying scene endured by some colleagues in Customs who had to deal with this tragedy. Some are still badly affected by it. I arrived for work as usual at 0600 hours on 18th June 2000 to be told by the departing night shift that 60 Chinese had been found in the back of a truck, and that two of them were dead. I then left for our office at the other end of the dock which is separated from the loading bays by just a brick wall. There I learnt the shocking truth: there were indeed 60 Chinese people in the truck, but just two had survived. The rest of my working day was rather numbing as the news unfolded. It was international headlines, and it was just behind where I was sitting. Apart from the traffic jam of media people gathering outside the docks, a lasting image for me is of the white-suited forensic people to-ing and fro-ing. How has this event impacted on your life? What sort of impact has it had on your co-workers and people in your industry? As a practising Christian my first instinct was to contact the Reverend Norman Setchell of the United Reformed Church in Dover. Alone he had founded the Asylum Seekers Support Group in Dover some eight years ago to ease the plight of the then large numbers of asylum seekers in the town. Between us we quickly organised an impromptu public service for the dead two days later in the open air near the loading bays. After that, the tragedy's impact on me grew as it became clear that the world was gradually forgetting it. Part of this I think was due to a long and vociferous animal rights campaign that has taken root at the Eastern Docks in Dover. Let me explain. Straight away I declare sincere sympathy with and support for the motives of anybody who wishes to prevent animal cruelty. For many years there has been a continuous 'No Live Exports' campaign in Dover. It is a protest against the real suffering endured by sheep on long journeys across the Channel and then down through the Continent. Though things are quieter now, at its peak hundreds of supporters would descend on the entrance to the Eastern Docks when they heard a shipment of sheep was imminent. Large numbers of police would be involved, and it would all be reported by the nation's media circus that was there too. The protesters would tie purple ribbons on everything to signify the appalling deaths of the animals, as they see it: on railings; on lampposts; trees and shrubs - all the way down Jubilee Way (the long, final descent of the A2 into Dover). I would see these ribbons every day as I drove to work. All this was happening around the time of the 58 deaths, and I was increasingly struck by the contrast in society's behaviour: cruelty to sheep - a huge, continuing protest; deaths of 58 young people - silence. I asked myself, what would have been the reaction if 58 sheep had been found dead? The demonstration would have been immediate and enormous, and the docks would have been at a standstill for weeks if not months. Can you tell our readers about the organisation that you set up? The 58 Remembered Appeal Fund has a committee of three people - the Rev Norman, Ben Bano (a local councillor who, with his wife, Marie-Claude, has long supported the ASSG), and myself. We have raised money for a memorial stone to the 58 from individuals, sympathetic organizations, and, not least, the audiences of the very moving play '58', produced by the Yellow Earth Theatre in Canterbury and the West End. The ASSG is a group of unpaid volunteers from many local churches that opens the doors of St Mary's Parish Centre in Dover town centre on Wednesday afternoons. Its clientele is those from abroad awaiting decision on asylum applications in Dover. They are not allowed to work and, though housed in local hotels, are basically destitute. The Drop-In Centre as we call it offers them free of charge a refreshments bar, table tennis, badminton, games, arts & crafts and simply a place to meet and talk. How has this been received by the British community? Sadly, there is a whole spectrum of reaction to the 58 deaths, ranging from sincere sympathy to outright racist hostility. Happily, there is a growing number of us that sees increasingly we are one humanity. For us, the fact that these young people came from a different part of the world makes no difference. The shock and horror we felt was no less than if they had been local people, our own friends or neighbours. How has this been received by the British Chinese community and by the community from which the young people came? Again, sadly, a mixed reaction. I wrote formally to the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China and invited him or his representative to the unveiling on 18th June. Eventually I received a rather abrupt telephone call from his office that declined the offer, with no explanation. On the other hand, I have longstanding friends of Hong Kong origin who support our efforts. Yet another point is that, having spoken recently to two young women from mainland China studying here in London, they tell me they know nothing about the tragedy at all. I suspect that outside the immediate localities of the dead the media have not been allowed to run the story there. What are you doing to commemorate the 58 in 2005? At 1pm on Saturday the 18th June 2005 the Right Honourable Gwyn Prosser, MP for Dover, will unveil a memorial stone near the site of the tragedy. All are invited to attend. The memorial will be at the far eastern end of the Dover Harbour promenade at the foot of the Jubilee Way (A2) by the Eastern Docks entrance. If it rains, we shall meet in the Dover Harbour Hotel opposite. At the moment I am unsure as to whether there will be any people from the Chinese community at all. If this proves to be the case it will be very sad. Do come if you can. What have your learnt from your experiences? All human life is precious. You are also manager of the Drop-In Centre in Dover. Can you tell us about this and your experiences there? The number of asylum seekers here today is lower than it has been in the past, due no doubt to the Government tightening the immigration rules in recent years. There were originally hundreds of Czechs here, but we rarely see them nowadays. There is a real mix at the moment: Iraqi Kurds; Iranians; various African nationalities; plus occasionally Nepalese and others. Is there any thing else you would like to let our readers know about? See strangers as first and foremost fellow human beings. Allow their appearance, language, culture or religion to come a long way second. If you are able to attend, the memorial stone will be unveiled at 1pm on Saturday the 18th June 2005 - the 5th anniversary - by Gwyn Prosser, MP for Dover. It will take place at the eastern end of Dover Harbour Promenade facing the site of the tragedy's discovery. |
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