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Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel was the name used by the Australian Defence Force or Australian Coastwatch for maritime vessels which were suspected to be attempting to reach Australia without authorisation. In practise, these boats were almost exclusively carrying asylum seekers who had departed from Indonesia on the final leg of a journey which started in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. During Operation Relex, 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 first designated as SIEV 8. When it 'disappeared', another boat was designated SIEV 8 so the sequence was not lost. The boat that sank is known by the name SIEV-X.
- SIEV-4 - 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-7 - reached Ashmore Reef on 22 October 2001 with 233 passengers.
- SIEV-X - 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.