Australia accused over asylum-seeker boat sinking

[countryjake]

Source: Al Arabiya News

By AFP SYDNEY

Australia on Sunday called the sinking of an asylum-seeker boat off Indonesia that left more than 200 missing “a terrible tragedy”, as activists said Canberra’s refugee laws were partly responsible.

Indonesian officials said the overloaded vessel bound for Australia’s remote Christmas Island was carrying around 250 Iranians and Afghans when it sank off Java on Saturday.

Only 33 people have so far been rescued with efforts to reach any survivors hampered by bad weather and heavy seas.

“This is a terrible tragedy,” Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said, adding that Australia had offered an Orion surveillance aircraft to help the rescue effort.



Read more: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/18/183149.html

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The overloaded vessel bound for Australia’s remote Christmas Island
was carrying around 250 Iranians and Afghans when it sank off Java on Saturday.
(Reuters)

[KoKo]

1. Sad article. Expect we will see more of this with so much climate & war destabilization

all over the world. :-(

[countryjake]

2. They've found 13 more alive today, bringing survivor total up to 49...

but leaving possibly more than 200 drowned. Some are saying that old wooden boat was loaded three times its capacity, mostly all refugees from Afghanistan (and some from Iran).

Too sad.