To mark the fifth anniversary of SIEV X, a permanent memorial will be built in Canberra on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. Three Perth-based Iraqi men who each lost family are decorating 22 poles to remember their loved ones...
353 people who drowned
AUSTRALIA: Communities, churches and school students around Australia are contributing individually decorated wooden poles to form a permanent memorial by the lakeshore.
Each pole will represent one of the 353 people who drowned, with 2 metre-high poles used to remember the adults & smaller ones for each of the 146 children.
Three Perth-based Iraqi men who each lost their wives, all their children and other family members are decorating 22 poles to remember their loved ones.
They have waited five years for a permanent memorial that we can only hope will help them in their grieving process and healing journey.
We need your support to cover the costs of purchasing, painting and decorating the poles, freighting them to Canberra plus airfares and accommodation to attend the memorial service in Canberra in October 2006.
If you can assist, please make donations to:
Commonwealth Bank, BSB (Morley WA branch) 06 6132
Account number 10435629. Account name - Family of SIEV X Inc
For more information contact Sue 0401 238 567 or Vanessa 0433 811 831
Arabic speakers contact Abo Roma on 0413 288 719
Email: wara (at) optusnet.com.au
SIEV X National Memorial website at:
http://www.sievxmemorial.com
What is SIEVX?
SIEVX is the acronym for 'Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X' (the X stands for 'unknown').
It is the name by which we have come to know the nameless, dilapidated, criminally overloaded Indonesian fishing boat that sank en route to Australia's Christmas Island on 19 October 2001 drowning more than 350 asylum seekers.
How many died and how many survived on SIEVX?
To date, there is still no exact figure for the number of people who lost their lives on SIEVX. The generally accepted number is 353 - 146 children, 142 women and 65 men, but this is only an estimate. The majority of those who drowned on SIEVX were women and children.
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.
http://sievx.com/
Each pole will represent one of the 353 people who drowned, with 2 metre-high poles used to remember the adults & smaller ones for each of the 146 children.
Three Perth-based Iraqi men who each lost their wives, all their children and other family members are decorating 22 poles to remember their loved ones.
They have waited five years for a permanent memorial that we can only hope will help them in their grieving process and healing journey.
We need your support to cover the costs of purchasing, painting and decorating the poles, freighting them to Canberra plus airfares and accommodation to attend the memorial service in Canberra in October 2006.
If you can assist, please make donations to:
Commonwealth Bank, BSB (Morley WA branch) 06 6132
Account number 10435629. Account name - Family of SIEV X Inc
For more information contact Sue 0401 238 567 or Vanessa 0433 811 831
Arabic speakers contact Abo Roma on 0413 288 719
Email: wara (at) optusnet.com.au
SIEV X National Memorial website at:
http://www.sievxmemorial.com What is SIEVX?
SIEVX is the acronym for 'Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X' (the X stands for 'unknown').
It is the name by which we have come to know the nameless, dilapidated, criminally overloaded Indonesian fishing boat that sank en route to Australia's Christmas Island on 19 October 2001 drowning more than 350 asylum seekers.
How many died and how many survived on SIEVX?
To date, there is still no exact figure for the number of people who lost their lives on SIEVX. The generally accepted number is 353 - 146 children, 142 women and 65 men, but this is only an estimate. The majority of those who drowned on SIEVX were women and children.
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.
http://sievx.com/
