Grave fears held for missing boatpeople after asylum vessel sinks off Indonesia

MORE than 80 asylum-seekers have been rescued but up to another 160 are missing after an overcrowded boat bound for Australia sank off Indonesia.

Boat disaster

MORE than 80 asylum-seekers have been rescued but up to another 160 are missing after an overcrowded boat bound for Australia sank off Indonesia.

The vessel, which survivors said was headed for Christmas Island, went down in bad weather and heavy seas about 40 nautical miles off the coast of Java early yesterday.

Indonesian authorities and survivors say there were around 250 people on the boat, including as many as 40 children, and most were from the Middle East.

The boat is believed to be a traditional fishing vessel with a capacity of around 100.

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said Indonesian authorities had rescued 87 asylum-seekers and retrieved two bodies as part of a major rescue operation by the Indonesian navy and police.

“This is a terrible tragedy. People have died. There are still people still missing at sea,” Mr Clare told reporters in Sydney.

“Obviously grave fears are held for those on board.

“Local fishermen were on hand to rescue the 87 people picked up,” he said.

The sinking comes almost a year to the day since the Christmas Island boat disaster, which killed 50, and threatens to be one of the worst refugee boat disasters since the 2001 sinking of the SIEV X, which claimed 353 lives.

Australia has offered Indonesia the use of a P3 Orion surveillance aircraft and an Armidale Class patrol boat to help in the search and rescue if required.

Bad weather and 4-metre high waves were today hampering rescue efforts, said Lieutenant Alwi Mudzakir, an Indonesian maritime police official heading the operation.

“We fear that a large number of victims will not be rescued,” he said.

Police blamed the accident on overloading, telling Indonesia's official Antara news agency that the vessel appeared to have been carrying more than twice its capacity.

Lt Mudzakir said some of those who were rescued told authorities that they were determined to seek asylum in Australia.

He said about 250 asylum-seekers - mostly from Afghanistan, but also from Iraq, Iran and Turkey - were taken by four buses from Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, on Thursday by an unidentified group. The group promised to get the asylum-seekers to Christmas Island.

One of the survivors, Esmat Adine, told Antara that the ship started rocking from side to side, triggering widespread panic.

Because people were so tightly packed, they had nowhere to go, said the 24-year-old Afghan migrant.

“That made the boat even more unstable, and eventually it sank,” he said. Adine said that he and others survived by clinging to parts of the broken vessel until they were picked up by local fishermen.

He estimated that more than 40 children were on the ship. Lt Mudzakir said that two children and a woman were among those rescued.

Search team member Brian Gauthier said survivors were receiving assistance in the town of Prigi, around 30 kms from where the boat sank.

Rescuers believed some passengers were still alive and were likely suffering “severe dehydration”.

“They must be evacuated as soon as possible. They can't stay for long in the middle of the sea,” he said.

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

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

Mr Clare fended off suggestions the latest disaster may cause the major parties to revisit passing laws that would reinstate Australia's Malaysia Solution, the High Court's quashing of which has been blamed for a recent surge in boat arrivals.

Mr Clare said today was not the day for politicking, although he added there would be “plenty of time for that” in the days and weeks ahead.

The Coalition said the sinking confirmed its worst fears about asylum-seekers making the dangerous voyage to Australia.

“While these events did not take place in Australia's waters they are equally devastating and equally tragic,” Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said.

“The report of this tragedy once again confirms our worst fears and the extremely dangerous nature of these journeys, especially at this time of year.”

The large number of people reported to have been on the vessel was especially concerning, Mr Morrison said.

“It confirms the trend we have seen this year of the people-smugglers putting more and more people onto every boat.”

With agencies