Portugese Customs received a distress call from the boat 10 days ago. One of the trip organisers got things a bit wrong, the boat is nearly out of food, water and fuel. Hungry teenagers, unwell uncles, it's not going so well !! A U.S ship passes by the Aussies - reports that all is ok, the Portugese still know where the boat is and that it's on it's way to their shores. No further checks are carried out, they'll arrive in about a week.
They don't arrive.
Things on board are bad, the young children really need food, the boat will drift off course without fuel, they've been at sea for weeks - people are feeling weak, tired, sick. Some people on board have had bad experiences in the past this boat trip is bringing back all sorts of horrendous nightmares. Some of the men can't take it anymore, on board are their children, wives, sisters, uncles, friends - they construct a raft of sorts and head off on the expanse of blue, grey choppy water to find help. What else could they do. Is it a choice - you are the strongest on board, you have to try and help the others, don't you? Besides, the captain made that distress call over a week ago, the Portugese will be on their way to check on the boat... won't they.
The 5 men don't make it back to the boat, no other vessel picks them up - the remainder of the Aussies don't make it to shore. The Portugese officials eventually go to boat's aid and take the passengers to a remote island that is not Portugese territory and then locks them up in detention.
Furious at Portugal? Think they should have done more? Do you feel for those 5 brave men, do you worry about the other passengers who are now detained with no idea when they will get off the remote island or where they will be sent - they have just lost 5 of their fellow travellers, they are tired and scared.
I can't even begin to imagine the emotion, fear, physical sickness that these people would have been feeling. Compound that with the fact that they are not Australian - they are Sri Lankan, they are fleeing war, their homes have been destroyed, family members killed, it is not safe to send their children to school in the town they grew up in - this boat trip was a chance at a safe, new beginning.
Just imagine for a moment if this story was actually about 60 Aussies sailing around Europe. Six Aussie families who'd saved for the trip, Michelle's 50th, Sam's 21st, it would reunite all the Thompson kids who have been living all around the world, Faro was to to be the last port, from there people were going to fly off to other destinations or home - they were due to land on Tom and Sarah's third wedding anniversary - Tom was one of the five men...
We won't hear the personal stories from the real life version, we won't see the colour photographs from the couple's wedding, the interviews with the 9 year olds who are worried about their classmate who was on board, the neighbour who remembers the good deeds of those on board. These Sri Lankan asylum seekers will remain labeled as the latest "illegal boat arrival" - the boat gets named by Australia "SIEV #whatever" (suspected illegal entry vessel).
It is not illegal to seek asylum, it is illegal for Australia to deny these people the right to have their story heard (we are not processing claims from Sri Lankans at the moment!). And surely it is against the law of the sea to leave a boat like this unchecked.
A policy where inhumane treatment is the benchmark will only lead to more deaths. A population who cannot see asylum seekers as individual humans will continue to let Governments do this.
If you think I made it up - read this
(apologies to Portugal, no reason for picking you in this scenario!!)
Image by Katyousha from a Dec, 2005 refugee action. Published in UTS mag. 
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