SIEVX First Anniversary Update

In nine days time we mark the first anniversary of the sinking of the boat that has become known as SIEVX. (The acronym stands for - Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X. The 'X' is for unknown.)

All around the country, commemorative events and rallies will be held to remember the 146 children, 142 women and 65 men who lost their lives last October when SIEVX foundered and sank in international waters about 60 nautical miles from the coast of Java, well inside Australia's Operation Relex surveillance zone.

The SIEVX First Anniversary Memorial Notice Working Group assisted by the Edmund Rice Centre, have come together to organise a fundraising appeal for a memorial notice to appear in the Weekend Australian on the anniversary of the sinking. We are still $1700 short of the amount needed to fund this memorial notice. If you have not already donated to this appeal, then now is the time to do it. Donations can be made by phone, fax, email or through the post. Click here for further information about this appeal.

At least seven of the survivors and dozens of the relatives of the dead are now living in Australia. One of the men who lost his life on SIEVX had been living in Melbourne's northern suburbs for more than a year before travelling to Indonesia to accompany his wife and mother to Christmas Island on SIEVX - they also drowned. We do not know to what extent mainstream media may recognise their responsibility to commemorate this major Australian tragedy on our doorstep. We want to show by this memorial notice that many Australians do care deeply about it, and care for its human victims. We also want to remind those who have already forgotten this human tragedy.

Even now, a year after the tragedy, we still do not know the names of all the victims. We have combed newspaper articles looking for this information but so far have only been able to put names to about two dozen of the 146 children who died. (see the list on the Jannah Memorial page) There are more than 300 victims whose names are still unknown. We have written to one of the Senators involved in the CMI Inquiry asking if the UN Office in Jakarta can be approached to obtain the passenger list of SIEVX. As long as these victims are nameless it is easier to discount them. We need to know their names to help us more fully understand and grieve the loss of all those who died on SIEVX...

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