By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania

CANBERRA, Australia — Rescuers in Australia said late Thursday that dozens of asylum-seekers are believed dead after their boat capsized on the way to Christmas Island.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said 110 survivors had been rescued, but the agency confirmed the deaths of at least three people.  About 40 people were seen clinging to the hull of the overturned vessel, and as many as 75 were believed to have drowned.  A spokesperson said about the Sri Lankan refugees were headed to Christmas Island when they encountered trouble some 200 kilometers north of the Australian territory.

“We don’t know the full details yet, but clearly we have lost a number of lives in a very dangerous journey from Indonesia to Australia,” said Australian Prime Minister Julia Gilliard from a United Nations conference in Rio de Janeiro.  She confirmed that she and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had spoken on the phone and agreed to have their agencies work together to co-ordinate the search and rescue operation.

A 13-year-old boy was reportedly among the survivors, who were otherwise believed to be adult men.  Three merchant ships were helping with the rescue efforts.

“The objective is to save as many lives as possible,” said Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare.  “We’re still in that critical window where more lives could be saved.  People can survive out there for up to 36 hours if they have life jackets or debris to hang on to.”

Clare said some people were seen holding onto debris as many as three nautical kilometers away from the capsized boat.

Meanwhile, authorities were trying to confirm whether another boat also might be in trouble.  Australia’s Rescue Coordination Centre told Indonesian authorities that the second distressed vessel was possibly in the area.  The maritime safety authority, however, said only one troubled boat has been confirmed.

Three other boats carrying about 240 refugees have been intercepted near Christmas Island over the past two days.  But Thursday’s disaster was the latest in a string of disasters to impact asylum-seekers at sea.  Last November, 200 refugees died off the coast of Java when their boat capsized on the high seas.  In December 2010, four dozen drowned in a wild storm off the Christmas Island coast.

So far this month, more than a thousand people have sought asylum in Australia, marking the second consecutive month the number has eclipsed 1,000.  To date this year, 4,494 refugees have made the journey to Australia.

For further information, please see:

The Australian — Mass Asylum Seeker Drownings Feared off Indonesia — 22 June 2012

News.au.com — Asylum Seeker Boat Capsizes North of Christmas Island, Survivors Plucked from Ocean — 22 June 2012

ABC — Asylum Seeker Boat Capsizes South of Australia — 21 June 2012

The Sydney Morning Herald — Asylum Seekers Clinging to Hull of Boat — 21 June 2012

Yahoo! 7 News — Asylum Seeker Disaster North of Christmas Island — 21 June 2012