The lives of asylum seekers are being put at risk by the Government's so called 'Pacific Solution', Senator Andrew Bartlett, Leader of the Australian Democrats will tell a forum in Brisbane today on the SIEV X tragedy.
In October 2001, a boat carrying nearly 400 asylum seekers (including 70 children) to Australia, began to take on water and sank within an hour. Three hundred and fifty three people drowned and 41 adults and 3 children survived.
The Report of the Senate Committee inquiry into the Children Overboard Affair, which was broadened by the Democrats to include the SIEV X and other maritime incidents, was released in October 2002.
Senator Bartlett who was on the Committee that conducted the inquiry said, "It is undeniable that had different Border Protection policies been adopted by the Government before the 2001 Federal election, lives would have been saved.
"Fundamental to the Government's border protection regime is a lack of respect for the value of human life and human rights. This was exposed in relation to SIEV 4, SIEV 6 and SIEV 10 and it is my belief, was integral to the agencies' response to intelligence about SIEV X," said Senator Bartlett.
"If the SIEV X had been intercepted by an Australian vessel before it sank, the policy of deter, detect and deny meant that the first action when confronted with a grossly overloaded boat, would not have been to ensure the safety of those on board, including 70 children, but to turn it around and make it sail back to Indonesia.
"The Pacific Solution policy institutionalises systematic abuse of human rights and flaunts domestic and international law," Senator Bartlett concluded.
What: Senator Andrew Bartlett, Leader of the Australian Democrats, will address a forum on the SIEV X tragedy. Other speakers include former ambassador Tony Kevin, Labor Senator Claire Moore, and the event will be chaired by refugee advocate Frederika Steen.
Where: Visy Theatre, Powerhouse, Lamington St, New Farm, Brisbane
When: 6.30pm, Tuesday 26th November 2002
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