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Shipwrecked Asylum Seekers Found Alive On an Island
December 28, 2011 – In their attempt for immigration to Australia seeking asylum, at least fifteen asylum seekers have been found alive, two days after the Australia-bound boat crammed full of asylum seekers suddenly capsized in the rough Indonesian seas.
The 15 asylum seekers were found and rescued on an island 250km from where the asylum seekers’ boat sank.
Remarkably the 15 asylum survivors stayed alive for almost two days following the unfolding of the disaster off the coast of East Java in which around 200 people are believed to have drowned and perished, as they are attempting for migration to Australia.
Moreover, grave concerns have risen for about 200 other asylum seekers as officials downgraded the number of people rescued in the disaster from 86 to 49.
According to Australian Federal Police officers’ rescuers, as they joined the search, 12 men and one woman, totaling to 13 survivors, were spotted washed up on the shores of Nusa Barong, 250km east from where a boat carrying asylum seekers sank by crew on a coal boat about midday.
The island which is about 75km off east Java is close to where the asylum boat sank on Saturday.
Moreover, also found on the East Java mainland at Sindang Biru are the two crews who abandoned the doomed boat in a dinghy. The police will interview the 2 crew members in an effort to discover the identity of the people-smuggling syndicate behind the boat which went down shortly after leaving for Christmas Island.
The Australia-bound boat, which only had a capacity of 100 people, was thought to have been crammed with people between 215 and 250 asylum seekers, mostly from Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, who are attempting for Australia immigration.
One should note that immigration Australia program is known for its Humanitarian Program where people who are subjected to persecution or substantial discrimination amounting to gross violation of human rights in their home country and deemed to be in humanitarian need are eligible for Australian visa application for the range of Australian visas for refugees and asylum seekers.
source:
au.news.yahoo.com
