Distraught families seek information about missing Sri Lankans
Updated
As a grim search continues for up to 12 people from a sunken boat off Australia's north west coast, a Tamil woman in Australia says she's spoken to distraught families in Sri Lanka desperate to know if the missing are their relatives.
Presenter: Linda Mottram
Speakers: Dr Stephen Langford the Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service's Medical Director in Western Australia; Saradh Nathan from the Australian Tamil Congress; Indonesian Foreign Ministry Official, Doctor Sujatmiko
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MOTTRAM: Two foreign vessels were joined by eight aircraft in the arduous task of trying to find the eleven missing people. Among the search craft was a long-range jet from the legendary Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service. Its medical director in the West Australian capital, Perth, is Dr Stephen Langford. He says the aircraft was dispatched first to Cocos Island half way to Sri Lanka and then joined a search 350 nautical miles north West of Cocos.
LANGFORD: They're under the direction of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority who have identified a grid, an area of probably around 100-150 nautical miles and they do a very methodical and accurate flight going up and down trying to find any survivors who are still in the water.
MOTTRAM: 27 people had earlier been rescued and remain on board the bulk freighter the LNG Pioneer, one of the vessels that's been assisting with the search, after news arrived Sunday night of a boat taking on water, later found to have sunk.
News of the disaster and the search reached Sri Lanka quickly it seems.
Saradh Nathan from the Australian Tamil Congress says she has spoken by phone to two people in Sri Lanka who are relatives of some of a group of men who recently set out on a boat.
NATHAN: They got on the boat two to three weeks ago from the East of Sri Lanka and they were hoping to get directly to Australia.
MOTTRAM: She says the relatives don't know if its the same boat that's now the subject of the Australian search. But she says those who leave Sri Lanka have mortgaged their homes and have particular reasons for seeking a new life in Australia.
NATHAN: They understand that Australia processes their applications and the genuine refugees are accepted and they also are aware that they are treated, this is one particular word they said, there's no discrimination regardless of colour or what race you belong to so they say I want to go to a country that gives me that equal right, that gives me the right to work and where the language is not such a difficult thing.
MOTTRAM: While the rescue effort in the Indian Ocean has been Canberra's top declared priority, the political pressure on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd over his handling of asylum seeker issues was underscored by a new opinion poll showing a serious slump in support for his Labor party.
It's unclear whether there's a direct link with the asylum seeker debate that's raged in Australia for weeks now. But the timing of the poll indicates there may be so.
Canberra is now acting on some new fronts. After some criticism it was doing too little at source to try to prevent people from making long and dangerous sea journeys on poorly equipped vessels.
Australian diplomat John McCarthy prepared to head to Sri Lanka as special envoy at Kevin Rudd's command.
At the same time, a top level delegation was in Indonesia trying to negotiate arrangements to try to cut the number of boat arrivals in Australia, Kevin Rudd's so called Indonesia solution.
Saradh Nathan says Sri Lankans are now trying to avoid going via Indonesia to get to Australia.
NATHAN: The reason they don't want to go to Indonesia is they've heard how harshly they're treated in Indonesia.
MOTTRAM: And Indonesia may be growing impatient particularly over the continuing stalemate involving 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers on board an Australian customs vessel moored off Indonesia. Ahead of the Australian delegation's visit, Indonesian Foreign ministry official, Doctor Sujatmiko, this week spoke of the need for Australian solutions.
SUJATMIKO: We should find a win-win solutions. If there is Indonesian solution, there should be also Australian solutions. This is a very difficult problem. We have to solve it based on our mutual interests, based on our win win solutions.
MOTTRAM: He added the two countries needed to make sure the issue didn't damage Australia Indonesia relations.
