A boatload of migrants allegedly turned back by the Australian Border Force without maps, navigational equipment or reasonable training ran aground on rocks on Rote Island, Indonesia. Another group beached a few kilometres away and had to be rescued by locals responding to pleas for help.
One man said they were so scared after being cut loose in the vast Timor Sea with only a 15-minute Border Force course in navigating, that they didn’t dare to touch anything but the steering wheel………..
Hamzah Hamitu, a fisherman from Kupang and veteran of these waters, was incredulous when he heard there was no crew on the boats to guide the migrants to Rote Island safely.
“They [the Australians] shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “The Timor Sea is a dangerous place. We have strong currents – they could have easily died.”