A boat carrying about 100 asylum seekers from Iraq and Iran in its way from Indonesia to Australia in pursuit of a better and safer life smashed against the Christmas Island coastline yesterday morning. Dozens of people onboard, including children and women have died. The bodies of 30 asylum seekers were recovered. 42 people have survived the accident. Many survivors are treated for minor injuries and two seriously injured women are flown to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment. Survivors are in poor mental status and are waiting to be transferred to mainland. 

This is not the first tragedy of this kind in last few years. In last few months there were few incidents of suicide in Australian detention centres. The last incident was the suicide of an Iraqi asylum seeker, Ahmed Al Akabi in Villawood detention centre.

The main reason behind these tragedies is the presence of oppressive religious and ethnocentric regimes in countries like Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan which oppress their citizens in all aspects. To escape the oppression and insecurity under these sectarian and ethnocentric bourgeois regimes, people are forced to take risk with their lives and the lives of their children in pursuit of a better life.

However, the United Nations and advanced countries including Australia have a role in such tragedies by supporting and dealing with these oppressive regimes and denying their responsibilities toward asylum seekers and therefore they should be condemned.

We in the Australian Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq express our sorrow for the tragedy, and extend our condolence to the families and friends of the victims. We whish the injured asylum seekers speedy recovery. We hold the oppressive regimes in Iraq and Iran the responsibility of this tragedy. We condemn the UNHCR for its lack of action toward the plight of asylums seekers worldwide and the anti-refugees policies of the Australian government.

Australian Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq

16th December 2010.