Merak refugees: global protests mark 150 days stuck on boat

Saturday, March 13, 2010 - 11:00

Protests were held in London, Toronto, Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth on March 10 to mark the 150th day that about 250 Tamil asylum seekers have been stuck on a boat at Merak, Indonesia, waiting for resettlement in Australia.

The situation is becoming more dire each day for the asylum seekers, and chicken pox has broken out on the boat. However, the asylum seekers are remaining on the boat because they fear being returned to Sri Lanka where many of them have had family members killed or disappeared.

From GLW issue 830