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163 Illegal Immigrants Drowned off Australia
Up to 163 boatpeople en route to Australia from Indonesia are believed to have drowned when their two vessels sank in stormy seas, Australian Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said on Wednesday.
He said Australia was investigating reports that a Japanese tanker had picked up four survivors from one boat.
The vessel was believed to be carrying 87 people when it went missing between Indonesia's southern islands and Ashmore Islands, an outcrop of reefs about 600 kilometers (370 miles) off Australia's remote northwest.
"The weather conditions to the north of Australia have been atrocious, and there are reports that another boat, carrying 80 passengers, has also disappeared en route," Ruddock said in a statement.
While the nationalities of the boatpeople were not known, Ruddock said most illegal immigrants who head to Australia via Indonesia were of Middle Eastern origin.
"Recently we've seen people from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Syria and a small number of Palestinians," he said.
Many pay people smugglers before making the journey in often unstable craft.
The boats were believed to have left Indonesia last week and were expected to have arrived at Ashmore at the weekend. The 240 km (149 mile) sea crossing to Australia from Timor island typically takes two to three days.
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