200 asylum-seekers missing after boat sinks on way to Australia

A wooden fishing boat carrying about 250 asylum seekers from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Turkey, that was believed to be heading for Australia sunk 90km (55 miles) off the coast of Indonesia on Saturday.

The boat turned over, broke apart and sank in bad weather and huge waves of up to 5 metres in height off Indonesia’s main island of Java.

Indonesian officials say that only 33 people (30 men, one woman and two children) have been saved. More than 200 asylum-seekers are still missing and thought to be dead.

Lieutenant Alwi Mudzakir a maritime police official heading the search said bad weather and large waves are challenging the rescue operation "We fear that a large number of victims will not be rescued."

Indonesian police blame the accident on people smugglers because they put too many passengers on a boat that was built to only carry 100 people or less.

Survivors said that they and the other passengers came from Iran and Afghanistan, and had each paid smugglers between $2,500 and $5,000 to get on a boat and seek a new life in Australia.

 "According to them, they had flown from Dubai to Jakarta and took buses to an unidentified location in Java to board the boat. They said they were heading to Christmas Island," Mr Purwanto said.

While most estimate that 250 asylum-seekers were on board, some reports say there were 380 asylum-seekers on the boat.

One survivor from Afghanistan, 24-year-old Esmat Adine, gave rescuers an estimate of how many passengers were on the boat.

"He did not know exactly how many passengers there were, but he said that four buses with around 60 or more adult passenger each had turned up to the port where the boat set off from," a translator for Mr. Adine said.

Mr. Esmat Adine told the Antara news agency that during the bad weather the ship had started rocking violently from side to side, triggering panic among the tightly packed passengers.

"That made the boat even more unstable and eventually it sank,” he said.

Mr. Adine added that he and others clung to parts of the broken boat until local fishermen rescued them. He estimated that more than 40 children were on the boat.

Indonesia has more than 18,000 islands and thousands of miles of unpatrolled coastline, making it a key transit point for smuggling migrants.

Australian Government officials have warned asylum-seekers and refugees against attempting to go to Australia by boat because it is so dangerous. 

Last month, a ship carrying about 70 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan capsized in the same area off the southern coast of Central Java province, and at least eight people died.

Australia’s new Home Affairs Minister Mr. Jason Clare blamed people smugglers for the tragedy.

"They're in the business of making money and they don't care if it kills people or not," he said.

December is one of the most dangerous months to attempt a sea crossing to Australia.

The dangerous monsoon season begins December 1 and this tragedy has come just over a year since the Christmas Island boat crash which killed dozens.

Indonesia and Australia’s Monsoon Season will put Asylum-seekers at risk of drowning

People smugglers in Indonesia are trying to arrange for their boats to leave quickly before the monsoon season begins and makes the boat journey to Australia even more dangerous.

Reports suggest that there are over 500 people waiting in Indonesia to try to get to Australia by boat without visas.  They are trying to use people smugglers who are eager for their boats to leave soon because they have only another two to three weeks before the monsoon starts.

The monsoon season in Indonesia begins in November and moves south to Australia where it usually lasts for 3 months from December to March.  Throughout the monsoon season there is much heavier rain than normal in northern Australia.  These rains and storms make the seas north of Australia very unsafe for the small wooden Indonesian fishing boats. 

A minister of the Australian Government said that he was very concerned about asylum seekers dying while trying to get to Australia by boat.  He said: “We do not want to see asylum-seekers lose their lives. We've got the monsoon season coming up. We do not want to see boats arriving and people losing their lives like they did just before Christmas last year.”

During last year’s monsoon season in December 2010 a boat carrying Iranian, Afghan and Iraqi asylum seekers crashed into rocks off the coast of Christmas Island during a monsoon.  30 people drowned and the bodies of another 18 asylum seekers were never found.

At the beginning of the monsoon season last November 2010, a month before the Christmas Island boat tragedy, another boat carrying asylum-seekers went missing between Indonesia and Australia. Relatives and friends of those asylum-seekers say that they heard their loved ones were getting on a boat but then never heard from them again. According to Australian authorities, boats usually take 2 to 4 days to reach Australian waters from Indonesia. It has almost been a year now since that boat left Indonesia on November 13.

Over the years there have been many cases of boats sinking or going missing on the way to Australia. The bad weather during monsoon season makes the sea journey even more dangerous. While the exact number of asylum-seeker deaths at sea will never be known, those attempting to count the deaths of irregular migrants at sea have estimated that only one in three bodies are ever recovered.

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Australia sticks to Malaysia plan

Prime Minister Ms. Julia Gillard and Immigration Minister Chris Bowen announced that the government would change the migration law after a High Court decision that put in doubt the Malaysian refugee swap deal and other forms of offshore processing.

Ms. Gillard said the amendments would simply restore the understanding of the Migration Act that existed prior to the High Court's decision. The processing of asylum-seekers in other countries would be allowed and the Government would have the power to decided where they should be sent.

Ms. Gillard says the Government is determined to continue to implement the agreement with Malaysia.

Under the Malaysian deal, Australia would send the next 800 asylum-seekers that arrive by boat to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 processed and recognized refugees.

The government's advice remained that the Malaysian agreement would send a strong message to people-smugglers and deter asylum-seekers from making the dangerous sea journey by boat.

"That is why Malaysia, when we announced it, was the best option for smashing the people smugglers' business model. It remains the best option", Ms. Gillard says.

The government would also use the changes to send asylum seekers to Papua New Guinea.

The Government insists the new policy will fulfill Australia's obligations under the United Nations convention.

The proposed changes will be introduced to Australia's Parliament next week for approval.

Australia is currently detaining all asylum-seekers arriving by boat, including several hundred in a Centre on Christmas Island which has seen riots in recent months. 

Decision to send asylum-seekers to Malaysia will be made next week

The High Court of Australia met on 22 and 23 August to consider the lawfulness of the Australian Government’s plan to send 800 asylum-seekers to Malaysia.

On August 8, refugee lawyers requested that the High Court prevent the Australian Government from sending the first group of 16 asylum-seekers to Malaysia under a deal that was made on 25 July to send 800 newly arriving boat people to Malaysia. In exchange Australia would accept 4,000 refugees registered with the UN in Malaysia over four years.

This week the High Court heard the legal arguments of refugee and government lawyers.

Refugee lawyers argue that Australian Immigration Minister Chris Bowen does not have the power to send asylum-seekers to Malaysia because Malaysia has not signed the UN Refugee Convention and therefore has no legal obligations to protect the asylum-seekers. The lawyers also argue that sending unaccompanied minors to Malaysia is not in their best interests.

Government lawyers say the agreement and declaration of Malaysia as a suitable destination is legal and does meet the obligations Australia has under the UN Refugee Convention. Australia's only obligation is to ensure protection of those with a well-founded fear of persecution.

Government lawyers told the court that Australia could declare a country a suitable place to send asylum-seekers regardless of whether it was a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention or have relevant domestic laws, which is consistent with the previous Government’s policy of sending asylum-seekers to Nauru.

After hearing both sides of the case, the High Court will deliver its verdict on Wednesday 31 August. Until then no asylum-seekers will be sent to Malaysia.

Five boats carrying 335 asylum-seekers, including 92 children of whom 39 are unaccompanied minors have arrived in Australia since the government signed the Malaysia deal on July 25.

Australia to reopen Manus Island detention centre

Australia's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and Papua New Guinea's Foreign Affairs and Immigration minister signed a memorandum of understanding in Port Moresby on 19 August to reopen Manus Island detention centre for asylum seekers.

Under the deal, Australia will send newly arriving asylum-seekers to the Pacific nation for processing and will provide financial assistance to support the establishment and operations of the detention centre.

The memorandum says the establishment of an "assessment centre" will be a visible deterrent to people smugglers. It also says special arrangements will be made for "vulnerable cases, including unaccompanied minors".

Australian Immigration Minister, Chris Bowen says the signing of the MOU is an ''important development''. He also said the deal sent a clear message that countries in the region were working together "to ensure the integrity of our borders and undermine people smuggling networks".

The two countries will now work together on plans to establish the detention centre, however many of the details are still unclear, including how much it will cost and how many people the centre will hold. Mr Bowen said that the centre would take “several weeks” to be reopened but it would happen as soon as possible.

Manus Island is located near the equator, some 400 kilometers north of the Papua New Guinea`s mainland. The detention centre was used by the former government of Prime Minister John Howard until 2004, and became infamous for its appalling conditions. A number of asylum- seekers detained there attempted suicide in a desperate attempt to draw attention to their plight.

Human rights and refugee groups have criticized plans to reopen the Manus Island detention centre, Amnesty International Australia refugee spokesman Dr Graham Thom has said "in both cases (Malaysia and Papua New Guinea) Australia is outsourcing its humanitarian obligations to developing countries and worsening the trauma of refugees who have fled conflict, persecution and torture."

However, unlike Malaysia, where Australia also intends to send asylum-seekers, Papua New Guinea has signed the UN Refugee Convention.

Mr Bowen said that the signing of the memorandum of understanding commits both governments to treating detainees with dignity and respect in accordance with the United Nations convention on refugees, processing them as quickly as possible and at no cost to the Papua New Guinean government.

Australian treasurer Wayne Swan said the government was determined to break the people smuggling business model. "The message to the people smugglers and to all of those considering coming is that if they come here, they will be processed in another country.”

The signing of the document happened on the same day another boat of 71 asylum seekers was intercepted off the coast of Christmas Island.

Two more boats arrive to Australia since signing Malaysian deal

Another two boats have arrived to Australia this week since the signing of a deal between Australia and Malaysia to swap 800 asylum-seekers that come to Australia illegally by boat for 4,000 genuine refugees waiting in Malaysia for resettlement.

One boat was carrying 100 asylum-seekers. This group was made up of 31 unaccompanied minors, 60 single adult males, and family groups including women and children. One of the women was wearing a full burqa and it is believed that those on board are from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.

Asylum seekers were taken to the processing centre on Christmas Island, where a mother hugged her toddler and smiled widely, as did the other women in the group. The smiles did not last long though as Australian officials soon told them that the $55,000 they gave to people smugglers to get to Australia was wasted and they would be sent to Malaysia.

The other boat arrived a few days later carrying about 62 asylum seekers. This brings the total number of asylum seekers to be sent to Malaysia to 269.

The transfer of the 269 asylum-seekers to Malaysia has been delayed until the Australian High Court can complete an investigation into the lawfulness of the agreement. At the heart of the matter is the transfer of 44 unaccompanied minors. The court will determine whether the Australian government can legally send unaccompanied minors to Malaysia, a country that has not signed the UN Convention protecting the rights of refugees. The court case will be heard the week of 22 August.

The Australian government fears that the delay in sending asylum-seekers to Malaysia will be exploited by people smugglers and more boats will arrive to the harm of the asylum-seekers who will spend all their money only to be sent to Malaysia.