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| Australia Ends Search in Boat Sinking With Scores Presumed Dead | Australia Ends Search in Boat Sinking With Scores Presumed Dead |
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| SYDNEY, Australia — Nearly 100 passengers from a boat packed with refugees that sank south of Indonesia this week are presumed dead, Australian officials said on Friday, making it apparently the deadliest in a string of boat disasters this year involving asylum seekers trying to reach Australia. | SYDNEY, Australia — Nearly 100 passengers from a boat packed with refugees that sank south of Indonesia this week are presumed dead, Australian officials said on Friday, making it apparently the deadliest in a string of boat disasters this year involving asylum seekers trying to reach Australia. |
| The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which had been coordinating rescue efforts in the area where the boat disappeared off the main Indonesian island of Java, said in a statement that it had decided to call off the search, saying there was “no realistic prospect of survivability” for those still missing. Fifty-five survivors from the vessel, which issued the first of two distress calls early Wednesday morning, were pulled from the sea by a group of commercial and Australian military vessels before rescue operations ended. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that all the survivors were Hazaras from Afghanistan and Pakistan. | The Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which had been coordinating rescue efforts in the area where the boat disappeared off the main Indonesian island of Java, said in a statement that it had decided to call off the search, saying there was “no realistic prospect of survivability” for those still missing. Fifty-five survivors from the vessel, which issued the first of two distress calls early Wednesday morning, were pulled from the sea by a group of commercial and Australian military vessels before rescue operations ended. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that all the survivors were Hazaras from Afghanistan and Pakistan. |
| One body was recovered from the water, and six of the survivors were in critical condition, an Indonesian official told The Associated Press. Australia said the boat was believed to have been carrying 150 people. | One body was recovered from the water, and six of the survivors were in critical condition, an Indonesian official told The Associated Press. Australia said the boat was believed to have been carrying 150 people. |
| Australia has tried for years to come up with a policy that would deter would-be immigrants from trying to reach Christmas Island, a territory in the Indian Ocean that is Australia’s closest point to Indonesia. Thousands of asylum seekers try to reach the island each year in rickety, overcrowded vessels, leading to accidents at sea that have killed more than 600 people since late 2009. | Australia has tried for years to come up with a policy that would deter would-be immigrants from trying to reach Christmas Island, a territory in the Indian Ocean that is Australia’s closest point to Indonesia. Thousands of asylum seekers try to reach the island each year in rickety, overcrowded vessels, leading to accidents at sea that have killed more than 600 people since late 2009. |
| The Australian Parliament passed legislation in mid-August to allow boat refugees to be deported to offshore detention centers in an effort to discourage asylum seekers from attempting the voyage, but the policy has yet to have a significant impact. | The Australian Parliament passed legislation in mid-August to allow boat refugees to be deported to offshore detention centers in an effort to discourage asylum seekers from attempting the voyage, but the policy has yet to have a significant impact. |
| “It’s a big ocean; it’s a dangerous ocean,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Friday. “We’ve seen too many people lose their lives trying to make the journey to Australia.” Ms. Gillard had proposed sending asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing, but the plan was rejected by Australia’s highest court, and negotiations over a replacement plan broke down. | “It’s a big ocean; it’s a dangerous ocean,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Friday. “We’ve seen too many people lose their lives trying to make the journey to Australia.” Ms. Gillard had proposed sending asylum seekers to Malaysia for processing, but the plan was rejected by Australia’s highest court, and negotiations over a replacement plan broke down. |
| Also on Friday, Indonesian fishermen rescued 43 starving, dehydrated Sri Lankans who had been adrift in a boat for nine days after their engine broke down while trying to reach Australia to seek asylum, an Indonesian police captain told The Associated Press. | |
| The capsized ship disaster appeared to be the largest of its kind in terms of loss of life this year. About 90 people are believed to have drowned in June after another boat full of asylum seekers capsized during a similar journey from Java. | |
| The Indonesian search-and-rescue authority, Basarnas, has come under heavy scrutiny in the Australian news media for its handling of the opening stages of the rescue operation this week. The first survivors were not found until nearly 23 hours after the first distress call; Basarnas had ended its search Wednesday after its initial sweep turned up no survivors, later saying it regretted having done so. Australian newspapers questioned whether Indonesia, which has no nighttime search capabilities, should have been in charge in the first place. The criticism had grown so loud by Friday that Ms. Gillard publicly defended Indonesia’s response, saying, “I believe Indonesian authorities did the best that they could.” | The Indonesian search-and-rescue authority, Basarnas, has come under heavy scrutiny in the Australian news media for its handling of the opening stages of the rescue operation this week. The first survivors were not found until nearly 23 hours after the first distress call; Basarnas had ended its search Wednesday after its initial sweep turned up no survivors, later saying it regretted having done so. Australian newspapers questioned whether Indonesia, which has no nighttime search capabilities, should have been in charge in the first place. The criticism had grown so loud by Friday that Ms. Gillard publicly defended Indonesia’s response, saying, “I believe Indonesian authorities did the best that they could.” |