Tuesday, 19 March 2024  
How many of the 1500 asylum seeker lives lost at sea since 2001 could have been saved?
Zahra (6), Fatima (7) and Eman (9) - the daughters of Sondos Ismail and Ahmed Alzalimi -  three of the 146 children who lost their lives when the vessel that has become known as SIEVX foundered in international waters en route to Christmas Island on 19 October 2001.
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146 children drowned on SIEVX - these are some of the few photos we have of them...
 

'...wherever you look you see the dead children like birds floating on the water...'

Read transcript

'on a sinking boat a woman gave birth off the coast of Java while the Christmas card I gave to my love celebrated the birth of another'

Play song
(All Gods Beggars
performed by Kavisha Mazzella
© K Mazzella and A Zable 2001)

146 children ~ 142 women ~ 65 men

 

On the 14th Anniversary a Father Remembers
 

by Mohammad Hashim Abo Roma
19 October 2015

 

In 2001, Mohammad Hashim Al Ghazzi was in Australia on a temporary protection visa which did not allow his family to travel to Australia to join him. Desperate, his wife and three young children and ten other family members boarded the ill-fated SIEVX. All drowned. Fourteen years later, now preferring to be known as Mohammad Hashim Abo Roma, these are his thoughts.

 


Mohammad's children who drowned on SIEVX
       
Mohammad's children from his remarriage
       

When I was in Iraq, I had dreams to escape from all my problems which were because of political and economic injustice, and the folly of Middle Eastern leaders. During two years in a harsh Iraqi prison because of my political opposition to the policies of Saddam Hussein, I suffered psychological and physical torture that harmed me and my family.

After I came out of prison I fled to Syria with my wife and children. I now carry the memories of the tragedies of my dreams; my dreams to find the right place for me and my family, a place that was stable and safe, where we could live a happy life free from pain.

But we did not find what we were looking for. We faced the same but different problems. The economic situation in Syria was very difficult, and the longer we stayed as refugees in Syria it was an unstable political situation for us, like in Iraq. We had fear, anxiety, tension and oppression. It seemed to us that relations between Iraq and Syria were improving and the risk for us, being illegal refugees in Syria, grew.

Then I decided to escape to Australia in order to find what I am looking for, and I left my family in Syria. Because of the financial situation I could not pay for a trip for all of us. Alone I entered a ship of death to face an unknown fate.

I arrived safely in Australia. I took a deep breath and felt overwhelming joy, believing that I had found freedom, and was away from the tragedy and injustice that was in the Middle East at the hands of its rulers. But my feeling was wrong. I did not find freedom or equality in Australia.

Australia was the start of new suffering but this time on my own. After a period of a year in detention, with my family in Syria during that time, I did not know at first about the decisions the Australian government had made about us refugees. They gave us no right to travel, and no right to bring our families to Australia. They did not let us study. The gap between normal and tragedy grew as I got older. In Syria my family was facing economic pressures and were in danger as illegal refugees there. I was in Australia under pressure of a temporary protection visa. My family and I felt trapped and blocked and there seemed to be no solution but that they face the same fate as me.

They boarded the ship of death on their way to Australia.

They left my life without a farewell; they went forever without return; we did not embrace, we could not say a final goodbye to each other.

They were gone without trace. Nowhere to visit them, when I miss them or when I want to talk to them, or buy them gifts and toys to play with. They have gone under the ocean. They did not find freedom in the place they went to. This is the folly of politics and rulers everywhere.

I am remarried now and have children again but I am still looking for a place for me and my new family to feel safe and secure. I have lost perhaps forever what it is like to know the true meaning of safety.

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On the 13th Anniversary of the Sinking of SIEVX
Phillip Adams & Arnold Zable remember...
Why we should still hang our heads in shame over SIEV X
PHILLIP ADAMS
THE AUSTRALIAN
OCTOBER 18, 2014 12:00AM

WHILE we mourn the dead children of MH17 and Gaza, let us remember the dead children of SIEV X.

That's the name, the infamous name given to a nameless Indonesian boat that left Bandar Lampung on an October day 13 years ago – and was to become the name of a great tragedy when, a day after its departure for Christmas Island, it sank in a storm 70km south of Java.

It created a storm of its own, occurring in the middle of John Howard's re-election campaign. Arguably it helped him win it. The day we learnt of SIEV X's sinking I thought the disaster would break our hearts and change our ruthless policies towards asylum seekers. Instead it hardened them. The death toll was 353, of whom 146 were children and 142 were women. We were complicit in those deaths, yet we did not hang our heads in shame. Instead we voted for even tougher policies.

The human cargo recalled the cruel stacking on a slaver: 421 people crammed onto a boat a mere 19 metres long. Like many of the other SIEVs – the acronym stands for Suspected Irregular Entry Vessel – it leaked like a sieve. Like many others, it was doomed. This one sank in waters that Brandis-speak might describe as "disputed". International waters but within Indonesia's search-and-rescue responsibility, and also within Australia's aerial border protection surveillance zone. The Indonesians failed the victims of SIEV X, but so did we. We claimed ignorance and poor weather as excuses for failing to identify or help the stricken vessel.

The subsequent Senate Select Committee inquiry into "a certain maritime incident" (as bizarre a euphemism as any ever coined by a bureaucracy) mainly focused on a different scandal – "children overboard" – but its terms of reference extended to SIEV X. The report was unflinching in its findings. "It is extraordinary that a major human disaster could occur in the vicinity of a theatre of intensive Australian operations and remain undetected until three days after the event without any concern being raised within intelligence and decision-making circles."

SIEV X and the Tampa affair two months earlier had Howard claiming that his policies would "stop the boats". Thirteen years later? Our policies remain as cruel, our attitudes as devoid of compassion. And they are "our" policies. Shamefully, Kim Beazley capitulated to John Howard and Philip Ruddock. (Ruddock was the minister who insisted on wearing an Amnesty International badge throughout his term, despite Amnesty's protests. The symbol of that great organisation is a candle shining through barbed wire – when Ruddock oversaw an era of putting refugees behind it.)

The policy of "stopping the boats", whatever the political or human costs, and the policy of putting asylum seekers into concentration camps (and I use that term accurately – check your Oxford Dictionary) has remained bipartisan. One of the reasons I opposed the leadership (sic) of Mark Latham is that he wanted to out-Ruddock Ruddock, while neither Kevin Rudd nor Julia Gillard showed an iota of moral courage. We do not offer refuge. We do not offer asylum. We do not offer amnesty. The Coalition continues to offer barbed wire, not the light shining through. And Labor's light on the hill has been extinguished.

The SIEV X was a tragedy, for the victims and their families. It was, and remains, a tragedy for this nation, too, reminding us that the White Australia policy lives on. On the 13th anniversary of SIEV X tomorrow, many would like to attend a service at Canberra's SIEV X memorial. A memorial that Howard fought to prevent being erected. Might I suggest you light a candle at home? Phil Ruddock might lend you his.

X-URL: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/why-we-should-still-hang-our-heads-in-shame-over-siev-x/story-e6frg8h6-1227092806148


Anniversary of SIEV X sinking a time for reflection
October 19, 2014 - 12:15AM
Age
Arnold Zable

The notebook is blue, the spine reinforced with tape. The covers are fraying at the edges. The pages list every person assisted by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre since June 2001, the month it was opened. The notebook is full. It contains 7579 names.

Pick any name at random and Kon Karapanagiotidis, chief executive and founder of the centre, knows the story. A second notebook is now being filled. In the 13 years since the centre opened, it has helped almost 10,000 people.

Name number 1259 is Amal Basry. She was one of 45 survivors of a capsized fishing boat that became known as SIEV X. Three hundred and fifty-three asylum seekers drowned when the boat sank en route to Christmas Island on October 19, 2001. Amal was rescued after clinging to a corpse for more than 20 hours.

She told the tale of the sinking many times, with audiences ranging from one listener to a Melbourne town hall packed with more than 2000. She would get out of her sick bed to tell it. She spoke of the "children like little birds floating on the water". She was condemned to bear witness. In a cruel irony Amal died of cancer in 2006. Her tale is a reminder of the courage it takes to risk the seas in search of a new life free of oppression.

It is also a reminder of the inhumane treatment by the Abbott government of asylum seekers who continue to undertake the journey. The boats may have stopped, but those who have made it here in recent years are living in hell.

There were many tears shed in Federal Parliament over lives lost at sea, but no tears for those who remain incarcerated in brutal offshore detention centres on Nauru and Manus islands. Nor for those imprisoned on Christmas Island and in centres on mainland Australia. No tears for the thousands in community detention and on various forms of bridging visa. No acknowledgement that indefinite detention is a recipe for depression, suicide attempts and insanity. Countless studies have reaffirmed this.

Asylum seekers may no longer be dying at sea, but they are suffering on land. And some are dying on land: Manus Island detainee Reza Barati, beaten to death, and fellow detainee Hamid Kahazaei, a victim of medical neglect. And out on a bridging visa, in community detention, Leo Semmanpillai, who died of self-immolation. In all, more than 30,000 asylum seekers remain in limbo, stripped of hope. Denied a future.

With Coalition government plans to reintroduce temporary protection visas, this uncertainty is set to continue. Even babies born to asylum seekers in Australia are to be deemed unauthorised maritime arrivals. Consider this: of the 45 SIEV X survivors, those who were resettled in other countries immediately received permanent residency. It was understood they had suffered enough. In contrast, the seven assigned to Australia were placed on five-year temporary protection visas.

Amal Basry would wander the streets at night, unable to stop the recurring nightmares of her ill-fated boat journey and of the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein that claimed the lives of family members. As she told me many times, her state of panic was intensified by her temporary status. She had become a living ghost.

In stark contrast to the actions of the Federal government, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre provided Amal refuge. She received trauma counselling, medical assistance, material aid and legal representation. Above all, her story was acknowledged, her courage recognised.

The centre represents the other side of the equation. Refugees are welcomed. They are helped back on their feet in ways far too numerous to list in a column. Volunteers worked round the clock earlier this year to relocate the centre in the abandoned old City Mission in Nicholson Street, Footscray, turning it into a vibrant centre of refuge.

The centre's services are expanding, with a shift towards empowering asylum seekers through innovative employment schemes and businesses. Its many donors, volunteers and staff are on the frontline in maintaining Australia as a vibrant, non-racist, multicultural nation. Yet, as Kon points out, many staff are in a state of grief and anger at government policies, and the despair they are inflicting. At the moment it's the worse it has ever been for asylum seekers, he says.

October 19 is a day to reflect on their plight. And on the fact that despite talk of orderly processes, the Coalition government has cut its refugee intake by more than 30 per cent, at a time when the need is greater than ever. Australia accepts just 0.3 per cent of the world's refugees, making us 67th relative to our population, and 74th relative to wealth.

The date should be designated boat people day, a time to share stories and acknowledge that apart from indigenous people, we are all, give or take a few generations, a nation of immigrants. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is a house of stories. Even the walls speak. They are adorned with larger-than-life photos of asylum seekers' faces, accompanied by accounts of their journeys.

In mid-2005 Amal was in hospital receiving treatment for cancer. The nurses heard her screaming. When they ran to her bed, she was clutching her mobile. She had just been informed of receiving permanent residency. She was ecstatic. "I am a free woman in a free society," she kept repeating. She was finally at home, her brave journey completed.

Meanwhile, the names in Kon's second notebook are rapidly mounting.

Arnold Zable is a Melbourne writer. He tells the story of Amal Basry in his most recent book, Violin Lessons.

X-URL: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/anniversary-of-siev-x-sinking-a-time-for-reflection-20141016-116xng.html#ixzz3GZHE9Uzl

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Questions Abound Concerning
Agrabinta Asylum Boat Tragedy
by Marg Hutton
5 October 2013

Sinking off Agrabinta Beach West Java, 27 September 2013

 

The Abbott Government's tough new border protection regime - Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) - has bumped right up against the most bizarre tragedy to date. An asylum seeker vessel sailed for four days and ended up sinking about 50 metres off the coast of Java, nearly as far away from Christmas Island as when it started. When the search was called off, dozens of bodies had been retrieved including many women & children, and an unknown number remain missing. It is believed that around 81 people were on the boat when it foundered and more than 50 lost their lives.

More than a week since the drownings, details remain sketchy and contradictory. This sinking is unlike any other we are aware of – it needs to be investigated in order to determine how and why such a strange and tragic incident could occur. Chillingly, the deaths on this boat were the first since the introduction of Operation Sovereign Borders. Questions must be asked about what if any role, direct or indirect, Australia's military style border protection policy played in this shocking incident.

What we know about the tragedy

A partial timeline of what Australia knew of the event was provided three days after the sinking by Vice-Chief of the Defence Force, Air Marshal Mark Binskin at the weekly OSB Media Briefing. (It is important to note that Australian authorities have not made public the coordinates received from the boat at any time in their briefings.) Details of the actual voyage included here have been gleaned from media reports.

The boat is reported to have departed Indonesia from Pelabuhan Ratu in Banten province on Monday 23 September and foundered four days later on Friday 27 September, sometime between 10am and midday Jakarta time very close to Agrabinta beach on the outskirts of Sukabumi, West Java. Survivors claim they were escorted to the departure point by men in uniforms. The vessel was in very poor repair, there were no life jackets and no food was provided. One survivor said he was given only one 600 ml bottle of water during the entire journey. Curiously the captain did not set a direct course for Christmas Island but meandered in sweeping circles, 'left, left, left,' a survivor described. Christmas Island is about a 36 hour trip from Pelabuhan Ratu but after four days at sea the boat was not much closer to its destination than when it first set out.

In another odd twist, it appears that passengers on the boat contacted Australian authorities between 3 and 5 hours before the sinking and gave GPS coordinates which placed the boat about 90 miles away from the sinking position. It is unlikely that the boat could have travelled this distance to the sinking location either adrift or with the engine functioning in that time and suggests that the passengers may have accidentally given the wrong location.

What were the Australian authorities doing during this event?

The day of the Agrabinta sinking was an extremely busy time for OSB. In the space of twenty four hours two boatloads of asylum seekers were rescued by Australian Border protection ships, the boats burnt at sea, the passengers returned to Indonesian waters and transferred to Indonesian authorities. In recent years it has been extremely rare for asylum seekers rescued close to Indonesia by an Australian Border Protection Command (BPC) vessel to be returned to Indonesia. The usual practice has been that asylum seekers rescued by us close to Indonesia have been taken to Christmas Island.

We cannot be certain of the exact time that the Agrabinta sinking occurred. As mentioned earlier, recent reporting out of Indonesia indicates that the boat sank about 50 metres from shore on Friday between 10am and midday Jakarta time (1-3pm AEST). If this is correct, then according to the OSB timeline Australia had coordination of the rescue effort for between five and seven hours prior to the sinking.

We know that at 10.41am AEST (7.41am Jakarta time and some two to four hours before the time of the sinking) the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) contacted Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency, BASARNAS and attempted to pass coordination of the rescue to the Indonesians. BASARNAS refused.

Questions about the impact of Australian Government policy

Why did BASARNAS refuse to coordinate the rescue of this boat which was so very close to the Indonesian coast line? Was it in any way connected to the fact that it had already agreed that same day to accept two boatloads of rescued asylum seekers? Did the people aboard the doomed boat lose their lives because they fell into a fissure that may have opened up between Australian and Indonesian Search and Rescue organisations?

When did BASARNAS finally accept coordination of the rescue effort?

Two days after the sinking the Jakarta Post ran an article claiming BASARNAS had 'allegedly been receiving illegal funds from the Australian government with regard to the handling of refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East' and quoted a professor of international law from the University of Indonesia's School of Law, in Jakarta, who castigated BASARNAS:

'What a stupid thing for Basarnas to accept the refugees and asylum seekers from the Australian Navy under the pretext that they were found in Indonesian waters. It reflects stupidity, not hospitality,' he said.

There are many other questions concerning this tragedy.

• If the boat was at sea for 4 days, where exactly was it during this time and why? Did it turn in sweeping circles close to the coast as suggested by some survivors or did it get a fair distance to Christmas Island and then turn back? At what point did it run out of fuel? Was the engine still running when the boat made telephone contact with Australian authorities?

• What was the role of the Indonesian crew of the fishing boat? What is the truth of reports of the crew deserting when it became apparent it was sinking?

• Did Australian policy have any influence on how this tragedy played out?

Yesterday, at the weekly OSB briefing Scott Morrison said: 'We're not running a taxi service here or a reception centre. We are running a military-led border security operation, and as a result the rules and mode of operations have changed.'

If Australia's proudly belligerent border protection policy continues to encounter stubborn resistance from Indonesia with regard to accepting coordination of search and rescue events involving asylum seeker vessels close to its coastline can we expect to see more bodies wash up on the shores of Java?

 

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Reluctant Rescuers by Tony Kevin

NEWS

Bali nine executions: Indonesian minister threatens to release 'human tsunami' of asylum seekers ~ Jewel Topsfield, SMH, 11 Mar 2015

Abbott government buys cheaper Vietnamese fishing boats to tow back asylum seekers ~ Sarah Whyte, SMH, 6 Mar 2015

Accused people smuggler loses legal bid to avoid extradition from NZ ~ AAP, 29 Sep 2014

Interview with Munjed Al Muderis ~ Fran Kelly, ABC, 24 Sep 2014

Scott Morrison says 12 asylum-seeker boats stopped under turnback policy ~Farrell, Guardian, 18 Sep 2014

Scott Morrison ends secrecy [sic] surrounding Operation Sovereign Borders ~Owens, Aus, 18 Sep 2014

It is time to betray Australia ~ Rundle, Crikey, 10 Jul 2014

Report of Senate Committee into breaches of Indonesian Territorial Waters ~ 27 Mar 2014

Australia breaches RI Sovereignty? ~ Hikmahanto Juwana, Jakarta Post, 13 Mar 2014

Training, lifeboats and asylum seekers in the 'battle space' ~ Keane, Crikey, 6 Mar 2014

Transcript of Azita Bokan interview ~ Glover, ABC, 21 Feb 2014

Transcript of Video provided to ABC recorded in a Lifeboat by asylum seekers on 5 Feb2014

Video provided to ABC recorded by asylum seekers in Lifeboat ~ 5 Feb 2014

OSB secrecy is the enemy ~ Hutton, sievx.com, 6 Feb 2014

Patrols on turn-back orders ~ Butterly, West Australian, 31 Jan 2014

Have we lost our bearings entirely ~ Editorial, Age, 18 Jan 2014

How Australia trespassed into Indonesia's waters, had wrong information ~ McPhedran, Aus, 18 Jan 2014

Back off, Jakarta tells Australia ~ Nicholson & Alford, Aus, 18 Jan 2014

Indonesia 'deplores' border breaches ~ Salna & Osborne, AAP, 17 Jan 2014

Australian border protection vessels 'breached Indonesian territorial sovereignty', Scott Morrison ~ Roberts, ABC, 17 Jan 2014

Navy in breach of Jakarta's waters during Operation Sovereign Borders ~ Nicholson & Maley, Aus, 17 Jan 2014

Asylum seekers say they were tricked by navy ~ Bachelard, SMH, 17 Jan 2014

Australia turns back asylum seeker boat from Indonesia ~ Bachelard, SMH, 16 Jan 2014

3rd Boat turned Back, Another gone missing ~ Bachelard, SMH, 15 Jan 2014

Navy sailors now on 'war footing' to turn back boats ~ Wroe, SMH, 15 Jan 2014

Australia break through Indonesian Waters ~ JakartaGreater.com, 9 Jan 2014
See also this article

Turned-back refugees claimed being tortured by Australian naval officers ~ Antara, 8 Jan 2014

Three Australian Warship Breaking Region RI ~ MetroTVNews, 7 Jan 2014

Customs can't be sure of ultimate fate of asylum boat that vanished in June ~ Davidson, Guardian, 26 December 2013

Moves to rethink life-jacket policy for boatpeople ~ Wilson, Aus, 23 Dec 2013

Customs and Border Protection Service raises doubt on asylum-seeker boat rescue response ~ Hall, SMH, 22 Dec 2013

Three asylum seekers killed as huge wave hits boat off Java coast ~ Roberts, ABC, 10 Dec 2013

Coalition just following orders on boat secrecy ~ Balogh, Aus, 2 Dec 2013

Indonesia leaves Scott Morrison in dark on detention centres ~ O'Brien, SMH, 28 Nov 2013

Asylum-seeker disaster risk high as navy stays out of Jakarta's zone ~ Shanahan & Alford, Aus, 28 Nov 2013

Asylum brawl flares as another boat gets into trouble ~ Alford, Aus, 14 Nov 2013

Indonesia to change the rules ~ Kenny & Bachelard, SMH, 14 Nov 2013

Some stumbles but boats are stopping ~ Stewart, Aus, 14 Nov 2013

Explainer: the law of the sea and asylum seekers ~ Bateman, Conversation, 13 Nov 2013

Indonesia helps AFP stop boats ~ Maley & Taylor, Aus, 12 Nov 2013

We stop the circus to stop the boats ~ Morrison, DT, 29 Oct 2013

All at sea on boats policy ~ Editorial, Herald Sun, 28 Oct 2013

It's time to honour fellow boat people ~ Arnold Zable, Age, 19 Oct 2013

Australian connections to drowned asylum seekers - SIEVX 12th anniversary ~ Marg Hutton, Eureka Street, 19 Oct 2013

Indonesia changes tack as asylum-seekers returned ~ Maley & Stewart, Aus, 14 Oct 2013

For recent media articles & government comment on the asylum seeker vessel that sank off Java on 27 September see here

Basarnas accused of receiving illegal funding from Australia ~ JP, 29 Sep 2013

Australian Navy sends asylum seekers back to Indonesia after interception off coast of Java ~ Roberts, ABC, 27 Sep 2013

Indonesia fails to follow Coalition asylum-seeker script ~ Alford, Aus, 27 Sep 2013

Australian navy returns rescued asylum seekers to Indonesia ~ Bachelard, SMH, 27 Sep 2013

Bowen says Coalition must address Alexander Downer's comments ~ ABC, 27 Sep 2013

Downer accuses Indonesia of 'pious rhetoric' ~ Hawley, AM, 27 Sep 2013

Jakarta fires shot across Tony Abbott's bow on asylum boats ~ Alford, Aus, 27 Sep 2013

Indonesian navy warns of asylum boat turn-back 'casualties' ~ AAP, 26 Sep 2013

Is it illegal to turn back boats in international waters to Indonesia? ~ ABC, 26 Sep 2013

Australia's asylum seeker policy putting relationship with Indonesia at risk ~ Roberts, PM 26 Sep 2013

Yet more wars we can't win ~ Waterford, SMH 24 Sep 2013

Scott Morrison and his marionette set sail for secrecy ~ Keane, Crikey 24 Sep 2013

Greens push to use Senate powers to reveal boat arrival secrets ~ Ireland, SMH, 24 Sep 2013

Border protection silence is deadly ~ Kevin, ES, 24 Sep 2013

Abbott Government uses frigates to tighten screws on asylum seekers ~ McPhedran,News Ltd, 24 Sep 2013

Christmas Island administrator would 'reconsider position' if gagged over boat arrivals ~ ABC, 23 Sep 2013

Proposal for transit ports stirs anger ~ Bachelard, Age, 23 Sep 2013

First boat arrives... ~ ABC, 22Sep 2013

Alienation - Alienation ~ Burnside, Tim Costello Lecture, Sep 2013

Abbott Risks It All To Stop The Boats ~ Eltham, NM, 19 Sep 2013

Tony Abbott's asylum seeker policies 'offensive', says senior Indonesian politician ~ Bachelard, SMH, 19 Sep 2013

Australia and Indonesia should share the burden of asylum seekers ~ Lateline, 18 Sep 2013

Video: Angry asylum seekers demand money back from people smugglers ~ Toohey, Aus, 12 Sep 2013

Asylum seekers: Drowning on our watch ~ Hill, ABC, Background Briefing, 1 Sep, 2013 (audio)

Pleas fail to avert boats tragedy ~ O'Brien, SMH, 1 Sep 2013

Asylum-seekers made it less than half-way from Indonesia when boat began to sink ~ Taylor, Aus, 21 Aug 2013

AMSA confirms 106 asylum seekers rescued after boat capsized off Christmas Island ~ ABC, 20 Aug 2013

Rescue launched for asylum-seekers after boat capsizes ~ Taylor, Aus, 20 Aug 2013

Body-recovery equipment 'will spare sailors' ~ Stewart, Aus, 10 Aug 2013

Question on Notice regarding Waleed Sultani, Senator Milne to Home Affairs, June 2013

Report of Inquest into the death of 17 persons off Christmas Island on 21 Jun 2012, Alastair Hope, State Coroner, Western Australian Coroner's Court, 31 Jul 2013

Time for scrutiny on boat rescues, Waterford, CT, 28 Jul 2013

Rescue delays key to boat fatalities, O'Brien, Age, 28 Jul 2013

Redacted Internal Review of the Maritime Incidents of 21 June and 27 June 2012 ~ Australian Customs & Border Protection Service & Department of Defence (courtesy SBS)

Secret asylum boat report withheld from police, O'Brien, Bris Times, 26 Jul 2013

A matter that should weigh on our conscience ~ Editorial, Age, 25 Jul 2013

Australian rescue agency failed to help in boat tragedy where 104 drowned ~ O'Brien, SMH, 24 Jul 2013

Asylum-seeker boat bound for Christmas Island sinks after leaving Java, 18 still missing, feared dead ~ ABC, 24 Jul 2013

Christmas Island-bound asylum seeker boat sinks off Java, three dead ~ Toohey, DT, 24 Jul 2013

Inquest on asylum seeker boat tragedy to resume ~ O'Brien, SMH, 24 Jul 2013

Search for suspected missing asylum seeker boat ~ Hall, Hurst & Harrison, SMH, 22 Jul 2013

Baby's revival a beacon in a sea of misery ~ Taylor, Aus, 22 Jul 2013

$200,000 bounty on the head of local people smugglers ~ Ministerial Press Release, 21 Jul 2013

Fatal shore of Kevin Rudd's making ~ Stewart, Aus, 20 Jul 2013

Boatloads lost in sea of red tape ~ Robinson & Stone, Aus, 20 Jul 2013

Transcript of Joint Press Conference ~ PM, PM NG, AG..., 19 Jul 2013

Take politics out of asylum debate: Siev X survivor ~ Cox, SBS, 18 Jul 2013

Border patrols at breaking point over asylum boats ~ Stewart & Taylor, Aus, 18 Jul 2013

A two-year-old asylum seeker lost her mother and sister when a boat carrying more than 150 capsized ~ Jones, News Ltd, 17 Jul 2013

Press Conference Transcript ~ Minister Clare & Admiral Johnston, 17 Jul 2013

Border Protection Command assists vessel ~ Australian Customs & Border Protection Service, 16 Jul 2013

AUSSAR 2013-4816 Mayday Alert ~ RCC, 16 Jul 2013

Interview with Michael Pezzullo of Customs & Border Protection ~ Fran Kelly, ABC, 15 Jul 2013 (audio here)

Baby boy found dead, search for survivors after asylum seeker boat capsizes ~ O'Brien, SMH, 13 Jul 2013

Jason Clare - Press Conference - Sydney ~ 13 Jul 2013

Customs Media Release ~ 13 Jul 2013

AMSA Media Release ~ 13 Jul 2013

Asylum boat with 97 onboard capsized ~ AMSA, 12 Jul 2013

Tony Burke says people-smugglers sabotage boats to exploit tow-back loophole ~ Kelly, Aus, 9 Jul 2013

'Nothing done' as SIEV 358 boatpeople died ~ Rintoul, Aus, 25 Jun 2013

New footage exposes confession of people smuggler involved in fatal boat sinking ~ Roberts, AM, 25 Jun 2013

Trading in Tragedy ~ Bachelard, Age, 25 Jun 2013

How a deadly voyage forced humiliating policy retreat ~ Bachelard, Age, 25 Jun 2013

Fishermen 'told not to help asylum-seekers' ~ Shine & Wood, Aus, 15 Jun 2013

Fishos told to leave asylum boat alone ~ David Wood, NT news, 14 Jun 2013

Concerns as another boat goes missing ~ Judith Ireland, 11 Jun 2013

Search and rescue operation West of Christmas Island ~ BPC, 10 Jun 2013

Asylum seeker search: no survivors from sunken asylum boat near Christmas Island ~ AM, 10 Jun 2013

Bodies of drowned asylum seekers left in the water ~ Judith Ireland, Age, 10 Jun 2013

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Agrabinta...
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Australia's Shameful Response
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