Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard defended her government's decision to leave the bodies of 13 drowned asylum-seekers in the ocean following criticism more would have been done had they been Australians.
An extensive three-day air and sea search for an asylum-seeker boat, which is presumed to have capsized near Christmas Island with at least 55 people on board last week, did not find any survivors. Up to 13 bodies were seen in the water, along with debris and life-jackets, but they were not recovered and customs officials said they were now too busy rescuing other boats, AFP reports.
“That is a very tough decision but it is an operational decision,'' Gillard said.
“As border command has made clear, they always put the highest priority on saving lives and I think we would all understand why that's got to come first in any tasking or any work that border command does.''
Australia's Tamil minority community criticized the move, saying there would be anger if the bodies of Australian victims were left in the remote waters off the Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island.
“If they were Australians I am sure that I would be angry,'' Bala Vigneswaran, executive officer of the Australian Tamil Congress, told the ABC.
“I'm sure that everybody here in Australia would be very disappointed and I don't think we would have treated Australians like this.''
Asked about this criticism, Gillard said Australia would “always put the highest priority on saving lives''.
The doomed vessel was one of several arriving over the past week, with seven boats carrying a total of about 500 people intercepted since Wednesday, including one carrying more than 90 people which sought assistance near Christmas Island.
Tuesday 11 June 2013
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=37433&icid=a&d_str=
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