AT SEA: Over 50 survivors are rescued after a suspected refugee boat disappeared on its way to Australia
Record ID:
863087
AT SEA: Over 50 survivors are rescued after a suspected refugee boat disappeared on its way to Australia
- Title: AT SEA: Over 50 survivors are rescued after a suspected refugee boat disappeared on its way to Australia
- Date: 31st August 2012
- Summary: AT SEA (AUGUST 31, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS BEING MOVED ONTO A BOAT MAN LYING ON BOAT MAN BEING GIVEN INJECTION MORE OF MEDICAL STAFF TREATING PEOPLE AUSTRALIAN MILITARY SHIP PEOPLE BEING MOVED FROM MILITARY ONTO A SMALL BOAT PEOPLE SITTING IN BOAT MAN LYING ON BOAT VARIOUS OF SOLDIER HOLDING GUN MORE OF PEOPLE SITTING ON DECK
- Embargoed: 15th September 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Indonesia
- City:
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Disasters
- Reuters ID: LVABTIY82Z9O6W4QO29658LS11P0
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Survivors were rescued at sea on Friday (August 31) after a suspected refugee boat believed to be carrying over 140 people disappeared on its way to Australia.
Indonesian authorities have been coordinating the search for the boat, which first reported to be in distress on Wednesday (August 29) in Indonesia's Sunda Strait, with several merchant ships and rescue helicopters at the scene, around 42 nautical miles off Java.
Refugees seeking asylum in Australia often set sail from Indonesia heading for Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island in dangerous and overcrowded boats, with the help of people smugglers.
Since 2001, almost 1,000 people have died at sea while attempting to reach Australia on overcrowded and often unseaworthy refugee boats from Indonesia.
A person on board the unidentified boat had contacted Australian rescue authorities by telephone on Wednesday, saying the vessel had engine trouble and needed assistance.
A search by Indonesian authorities failed to locate the boat on Wednesday, but a merchant vessel early on Thursday (August 30) reported it had seen people in the water and was attempting to recover survivors, Australia's Maritime Safety Authority said.
Refugee policy and border protection are hot-button issues in Australia, despite the fact the country only receives a small number of the world's asylum seekers each year.
The U.N. refugee agency said Australia received 11,800 claims for asylum in 2011, compared with 441,000 claims globally, with 327,000 of those claims in Europe. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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