Suspected Irregular Entry Vessel (SIEV) was the operational term used by the
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...
and
Australian Coastwatch
The Australian Coastal Surveillance Organisation, also known as Coastwatch, was an operational division of the Australian Customs Service and the de facto Australian coast guard service. The former Coastwatch Division is now part of the Austr ...
for maritime vessels which appear to be attempting to reach Australia clandestinely.
The legal context was of vessels that were entering Australian waters
without authorisation.
Previously the term 'Suspected ''Illegal'' Entry Vessel' was used.
These boats are almost exclusively carrying
asylum seekers
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...
who have departed from
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
on the final leg of a journey which started in countries such as
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
after paying "
people smuggler
People smuggling (also called human smuggling), under U.S. law, is "the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal entry of a person or persons across an international border, in violation of one or more countries' laws, ei ...
s".
During
Operation Relex
Operation Relex is the name given to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) border protection operation in the country's northern approaches conducted between 2001 and 2006. The operation was instigated following the Tampa affair in September 2001 ...
, 12 SIEVs were intercepted. Four were forced back to Indonesia, and three sank.
SIEVs were given numerical designations. The vessel involved in the
children overboard affair was the
SIEV-4. The vessel that sank in 2001, killing 353 asylum seekers (mostly women and children) was designated by the press as SIEV X (a temporary operational term used by Coastwatch prior to designation, the SIEV-X often referred to in the press was reported not to have been detected prior to sinking).
List of notable SIEVs
*
SIEV-4 - the vessel involved in the children overboard affair, reached Christmas Island on 6 October 2001 with 223 passengers.
*SIEV-5 - reached Ashmore Reef on 12 October 2001 with 242 passengers.
*SIEV-6 - reached Christmas Island on 18 October 2001 with 227 passengers.
*
SIEV-X
SIEV X was the name assigned by Australian authorities to an Indonesian fishing boat carrying over 400 asylum seekers en route to Australia, which capsized in international waters with great loss of life on 19 October 2001. SIEV stands for Susp ...
- sank on 19 October 2001 with 421 passengers, killing 353. This boat was not an official SIEV, as it had not been detected by Australian authorities.
*SIEV-7 - reached Ashmore Reef on 22 October 2001 with 233 passengers.
*
SIEV 36
SIEV 36 ( Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel 36) was a vessel from Indonesia that exploded and sank off Ashmore Reef, Australia on 16 April 2009. The vessel, carrying 47 refugees and two crew, was intercepted by the Royal Australian Navy patrol boat ...
- exploded and caught fire on 16 April 2009. The boat was carrying 47 passengers and two Indonesian crew. Three occupants were killed, and two more are missing. Five of the six navy personnel on board were injured.
*SIEV-221 -
shipwrecked on cliffs at Christmas Island on 15 December 2010, 44 survivors from an estimated 90-100 passengers.
Inquiries and inquests
The Siev X, Siev 36 and Siev 221 events were followed by a number of inquiries, articles and books; Siev 36 had a coronial inquest held in Darwin as the incident had occurred in the Commonwealth Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands over which the Northern Territory has coronial jurisdiction, and the Siev 221 coronial inquest was held in Perth due to Western Australia having coronial jurisdiction in the Commonwealth Territory of Christmas Island.
Notes
{{reflist
See also
*
Tampa affair
In late August 2001, the Howard Government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV ''Tampa'', carrying 433 rescued refugees (predominantly Hazaras of Afghanistan from a distressed fishing vessel in international water ...