Australia urged to aid boat people - The Age Saturday, December 26th

Australia urged to aid boat people
ARI SHARP, CANBERRA
December 26, 2009

THE death of a Tamil man who had been aboard a boat moored at Merak in Indonesia has prompted renewed calls for Australia to help strike a deal to resettle the 246 people on board.
George Jacob Samuel Christin, 29, was vomiting blood in the two days before he died on Wednesday night, according to Ian Rintoul, a refugee advocate based in the west Java port of Merak.
He was given medical assistance earlier in the day on Wednesday before being returned to the boat, and was later told by the Indonesian navy he would need to agree to leave the boat in order to get further medical care, according to Mr Rintoul's account.
Only when Mr Christin's condition worsened to the point where he was foaming at the mouth, struggling for breath and having a fit did authorities relent and allow him to be taken to hospital, where he died a few hours later.
Mr Rintoul, spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, said the Indonesian authorities and the International Office of Migration had failed to provide adequate medical care.
Mr Christin is the first person on the boat to die. The vessel has been kept in Merak since it was found in Indonesian waters in October making its way to Australia with its Tamil passengers expected to claim asylum.
The 246 people who remain on the boat do not want to come ashore because they fear they will be sent to an Indonesian detention centre and have to wait years for resettlement.
Australian intelligence helped Indonesian authorities intercept the boat so the Australian Government was responsible for the group, Mr Rintoul said. ''The Rudd Government should be willing to take these people to Australia.''
The death has prompted Tamil activists in Australia to renew their calls for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to help resolve the impasse, as he did with the 78 people rescued by the Oceanic Viking.
''The Australian Government needs to play a compassionate leadership role in our region,'' said Australian Tamil Congress spokeswoman Sam Pari.
''The Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and Norwegian governments have all come together to find a resettlement solution for those on board the Oceanic Viking. Have they forgotten about the people clearly in need in Merak?''
Ramesh Fernandez, from the Melbourne-based advocacy group Refugee Survivors and Ex-Detainees, said he was deeply concerned for the welfare of asylum-seekers on the boat.
''They have been there for 11 weeks now, without access to medical supplies, basic amenities and life jackets,'' he said.
The Indonesian embassy in Canberra did not respond to a request for comment.