There were 68 survivors of the SIEVX voyage - 23 who left the boat several hours into the journey due to fears for its safety and 44 who survived the sinking and spent up to 20 hours in the water before being rescued by Indonesian fishing boats on 20 October and 1 who was rescued some time later.

Since that time, despite repeated requests by Senators Collins and Brown and a Senate motion calling on the Government to produce the list of names of SIEVX victims, this information has still not been released. In March 2005 Senator Brown again asked for the names of the dead to be released. Senator Vanstone replied denying this request on the grounds that 'the Government does not hold comprehensive information nor is it in a position to verify it'. Even if the government only holds partial and unconfirmed information on the SIEVX passengers it is hard to fathom why it cannot release it. It is difficult to conceive of another circumstance where the details of those who lost their lives in a major disaster could be so long withheld.

I have compiled a database of SIEVX passengers using information gleaned from media reports and other sources. The database currently holds about 160 names, so is well short of being a definitive list of those who travelled on SIEVX. However, in the absence of authorities releasing the passenger lists they hold, this is the most complete source available at present.

For more information on the quest for the names of the victims and survivors of the SIEVX disaster see these articles:

• We need to know their names ~ 31 October 2002
• Faces of SIEVX: The Al Battat Family ~ 15 November 2002
• List Of SIEVX Survivors Provided To Asylum Seekers... ~ 3 June 2003
• The Anonymous Dead ~ 19 August 2003

The introduction of Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) in October 1999 saw an increase in the numbers of women and children attempting the dangerous ocean voyage from Indonesia to Australia, and was the primary reason there were so many women and children on SIEVX.

Most TPV holders were men, and unlike other refugees, were not allowed to bring their families to join them in Australia. They were not permitted to leave this country and return. And their family members overseas could not visit them here, as tourist visas are not generally issued to people from refugee-generating countries.

TPVs created a new market for people smugglers - women and children living overseas, desperate to be with husbands and fathers in Australia but with no legitimate means of reuniting as a family.

In the words of one Iraqi refugee:
'If they allowed us to bring our families this would not have happened... I had lost hope of seeing my children because of the cruel condition of TPV. There was no other way but the sea to bring my wife and four children.'

For more on TPVs and how they relate to SIEVX see our SIEVX reading guide.

A number of theories have been put forward by commentators. Some believe that the sinking was the inevitable result of a greedy people smuggler grossly overloading a leaking hulk by more than twice its load limit in order to ruthlessly maximise profits. Others theorize that the boat was deliberately sabotaged as a deterrent to halt the people smuggling trade from Indonesia to Australia.

It can be difficult to imagine any Australian complicity in such a tragedy. But it is important to note that at the time of the sinking Australia, with the assistance of special units of Indonesian police, was involved in a covert disruption program targetting people smugglers operating inside Indonesia. Disruption tactics included establishing 'sting' shipping companies in strategic locations and selling passage to asylum seekers on phoney voyages to Ashmore Reef & Christmas Island and keeping their money so they could not buy places on other boats.

One informant connected with the disruption program boasted to Channel 9 reporter, Ross Coulthart that he had arranged for Indonesian locals on four or five occasions to scuttle boats packed with asylum seekers. He claimed that as the boats were sunk close to land so everyone got off safely, there was no cause for concern!

To date no direct link has been established between the disruption program and the sinking of SIEVX. However, this possibility cannot be ruled out, given that SIEVX sunk at the height of this program and only a week after the People Smuggling Taskforce discussed 'beefing up' disruption.

The Senate is so concerned about this possibility that it has passed three resolutions calling for the government to set up an independent judicial inquiry into the people smuggling disruption program in Indonesia and the sinking of SIEVX.

To find out more about the disruption program see the sources listed in our SIEVX Reading Guide.

1. 10 December 2002 - moved by Senator Faulkner
2. 11 December 2002 - moved by Senator Collins
3. 15 October 2003 - moved by Senator Brown
4. 16 October 2003 - moved by Senator Bartlett
5. 22 June 2004 - moved by Senator Bartlett