Over 160 people are feared dead after an unseaworthy boat packed with asylum seekers from Afghanistan and Iran sank off the coast of Indonesia yesterday. The tragedy again sparked debate over asylum seeker policy and offshore v. onshore processing.
There are differing accounts of survivor numbers, with Indonesian authorities saying 34 people are confirmed safe — including two small boys, while Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said 87 people were rescued by Indonesian fisherman. The boat was packed with between 215-250 asylum seekers — including 40 children — although it had an official capacity of just 100.
Survivors spoke of their escape to news.com.au:
“Khadzim Huzen, a 30-year-old Afghan, told AP that after the big wave hit, the ship started tipping into the water, and everyone rushed to the front. A fight broke out for life jackets.
There were only 25, he said, and nine already had been taken by the crew.
‘In the end, as everything was being swallowed up by the water, we just grabbed hold of anything we could,’ he said. ‘We formed small groups in the water and tried to help each other stay afloat.'”
Tom Allard in the Canberra Times explains how people smugglers sent the asylum seekers on their deadly voyage:
“Many of the asylum-seekers flew from Dubai to Jakarta, where Indonesian officials are said to be ready for the migrants to arrive, charging them each $500 to pass through the airport without visas.
They arrived over several days and were taken in four buses on a 23-hour journey to an unknown location on Java’s south coast.
The modus operandi highlights the increased confidence of the smugglers and the huge demand for their services.”
Cardinal George Pell, who was openly critical of John Howard’s treatment of asylum seekers in the early 2000s spoke publicly yesterday about the need for the government to adopt offshore processing.
“The people-smugglers are evil and irresponsible money-makers prepared to risk the destruction of their passengers. These deaths are a tragedy,” Pell told The Australian. “It’s difficult to see any alternative to the government and opposition promptly agreeing on effective offshore deterrents. Australians do not want more tragedies like this.”
Time to focus on the kingpins in the people smuggling war, not the bit players, writes Susan Metcalfe (author of The Pacific Solution) in The Age:
“I understand that it can be difficult to catch the heads of operations in other countries, and that corrupt officials often collude in smuggling operations. But there is no excuse for Australian laws that do not discriminate between different levels of involvement and do not allow room for leniency where it is warranted.
Like many other asylum policies and laws created for political reasons over the past decade, this is simply another that is ineffective, unfair and has no logical basis.
Both parties should now support investing more heavily in tracking those dealers who run the people-smuggling shows in the region.
If the Coalition genuinely wants a policy that deters boat arrivals and ensures the safety and rights of refugees, it should work with the government to ensure the security of anyone returned to Malaysia.”
The Coalition must help the government pass changes to the Migration Act to allow offshore processing so that these deadly boat voyages end, says The Australian‘s editorial.
“The people-smugglers are responsible for the deaths, but the onus is on Australia to do everything possible to stop the boats.”
88 thoughts on “Tragedy at sea: over 160 asylum seekers feared dead”
McFly Marty
December 19, 2011 at 11:11 amOne thing I don’t quite understand: The left was up in arms when Alan Jones said that the Prime Minister should be tied in a sack and thrown in the ocean, and yet when Gillard drowns hundreds of people they defend her.
Why is colourful rhetoric worse than being a mass-murderer?
GeeWizz
December 19, 2011 at 11:13 am[“You are missing the fact that she cannot do anything like sending refugges to Narau or anywhere ofshore for that matter as your mob led from the front by phoney Tony has the legislation blocked”]
A complete Lie.
The Liberals have simply asked for an ammendment to Dillards legislation and that is that the country the boaties are sent to be signatories to the UNHCR convention.
Remember East Timor Solution? Labor and it’s lefties brigade harped on about it for ages telling us how much better it is then Nauru because ET is signatory to the refugee convention… now you don’t give a toss.
It just goes to show how bereft of morals, logic or values the Labor Party is.
RobJ
December 19, 2011 at 1:51 pm“Why is colourful rhetoric worse than being a mass-murderer?”
That statement in itself is ridiculous rhetoric, who is the mass murderer? Do you even know what the word ‘murder’ means?
shepherdmarilyn
December 19, 2011 at 1:52 pmAnd out come the knee jerks without a moment to ponder one simple thing – Indonesia is not Australia and punishing future asylum seekers who arrive safely because some drowned in Indonesia is still not frigging legal.
Why the hell we keep whining on and on though about “stopping the boats” as if that is some moral duty is beyond me, it is also not legal to stop a single person because to stop them often means they are dead anyway.
And it’s not like we care – in the last few weeks the courts have had to stop Bowen forcibly deporting people to die in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, thousands here have tried to kill themselves in our rotten prisons and hundreds died in a typhoon in the Philipines and 30,000 kids died of starvation and the knee jerk morons are not still whining about them.
The Australian in particular has been appalling over the past 4 years with insistent demands that we send people away or stop them without once understanding that it is not legal.
There is no legal basis supported by anyone in the world for sending asylum seekers away but so what according to the Australian.
As governments that asylum seekers flee from have taken away all their choices EXCEPT THE RIGHT TO FLEE TO A SAFE COUNTRY WE DO NOT GET TO TAKE THAT AWAY AGAIN.
Tom Watts
December 19, 2011 at 2:04 pmPerhaps Geewizz does not remember that the Howard government were very happy to send refugees to Nauru before Nauru was a signatory to the UNHCR convention.
Are we now to believe that the Noalition have suddenly acquired ‘high moral principles’ are is it just a continuing part of Phoney Tony’s ‘oppose everything’ relentless negativity?
Bloody OiCrikey
December 19, 2011 at 2:07 pmWhatever happened to the regional solution that Gillard promised to work hard to achieve?
We used to do that with Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees back in the days.
If you can’t have that then there is a very simple solution. Once un-authorised arrival identities are checked and deemed to be safe to be released into the community, allow them to work with 50% tax rate to cover for all government expenses and as insurance for any future cost. Anyone who takes up illegal or cash in hand work will be deported immediately.
shepherdmarilyn
December 19, 2011 at 2:07 pmGee, and Marty, it is illegal. Which part of it’s illegal don’t you understand?
What is also illegal is us spending millions every year having refugees hunted, arrested, jailed and abused in Indonesia instead of allowing them safe passage which is what the refugee convention requires us to do.
Everytime we have another ‘crack down” in Indonesia more refugees are forced to flee and this has been known for decades so why do you pretend that we can punish others because some we don’t care about anyway died.
McFly Marty
December 19, 2011 at 2:20 pmMaybe you don’t care about 160 people drowning Marilyn. That’s as many as the black saturday bushfires but hey they were white people then i suppose?
How nauseatingly racist.
GeeWizz
December 19, 2011 at 2:41 pm[“And out come the knee jerks without a moment to ponder one simple thing – Indonesia is not Australia and punishing future asylum seekers who arrive safely because some drowned in Indonesia is still not frigging legal.”]
And here comes Shepherd with yet more blood on her hands making yet more excuses.
How does this woman sleep at night?
[“Perhaps Geewizz does not remember that the Howard government were very happy to send refugees to Nauru before Nauru was a signatory to the UNHCR convention.”]
Absolutely correct and Labor then made a big song and dance about at the 2010 election that Labor is so much more humanitarian and the offshore country they send illegals to must be a UNHCR signatory. Of course that was before Nauru signed up the convention and East Timor flipped Dillard the bird.
Now Labor doesn’t care about the refugee convention. They flip flop all over the place.
The problem is that Labor just can’t bring itself to say that magically little 5 letter word N – A – U – R – U
Can’t do it cos Howard did it… it’s goddamn frucking pathetic! Get over it already and pick up the bloody phone!
RobJ
December 19, 2011 at 2:56 pmFrom what I can see both Labor and the Coalition have been happy to use Asylum Seekers as a political football, both are despicable.