Nine people, including Pakistani nationals,who were trying to reach Australia reportedly to seek asylum, lost their lives when their boat capsized off the coast of Indonesia on Tuesday, the UN’s refugee agency reported Friday.Andrej Mahecic, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters in Geneva that there were an estimated 60 to 100 people aboard the overloaded vessel, which sank in bad weather and rough seas off the coast of western Java, according to a press release issued at UN Headquarters in New York.
Indonesian naval forces have rescued 47 people so far, he said. Other victims of Tuesday’s sinking included four children, and an unknown number of other passengers on the boat remain missing, the spokesman said.
The boat was bound for the Indonesia province of Nusa Tenggara Timur and then Australia, and the passengers, besides Pakistanis, included included Iranians and Afghan. The UNHCR spokesman called on the international community to cooperate more closely to deal with irregular migration, saying the incident underlines once again the desperate steps that people are willing to take in their search for protection or a better future.
UNHCR, working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is providing medical assistance, food, clothes and psychological support to the survivors of Tuesday’s capsizing, the agency said,.(APP)
Indonesian naval forces have rescued 47 people so far, he said. Other victims of Tuesday’s sinking included four children, and an unknown number of other passengers on the boat remain missing, the spokesman said.
The boat was bound for the Indonesia province of Nusa Tenggara Timur and then Australia, and the passengers, besides Pakistanis, included included Iranians and Afghan. The UNHCR spokesman called on the international community to cooperate more closely to deal with irregular migration, saying the incident underlines once again the desperate steps that people are willing to take in their search for protection or a better future.
UNHCR, working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), is providing medical assistance, food, clothes and psychological support to the survivors of Tuesday’s capsizing, the agency said,.(APP)
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