Fed: Survivors tell of 'children overboard' rescue

AAP General News (Australia)
08-28-2004
Fed: Survivors tell of 'children overboard' rescue

Survivors of the so-called children overboard incident have for the first time given
their accounts of what happened after their refugee boat sank in late 2001.

An Iraqi mother of two who almost drowned has told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper
that she thought she was going to die and her two children were already lost when Australian
Navy sailors saved them off Christmas Island.

SABRIYAH AL RAHEEMY, who now lives in Sydney, has spoken of her disbelief that Australian
voters were told by the federal government that the asylum seekers deliberately threw
their children into the sea.

FADELLAH AL HUSSANI, another survivor who was photographed being rescued along with
her then eight-year-old son, says she was surprised to see her rescue portrayed as having
thrown her children into the sea.

She's told the newspaper they waited with their children until the very last moment
to leave the sinking boat.

Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD is facing renewed pressure over the children overboard affair,
with claims he misled voters in the 2001 election and ignored advice that the incident
never happened.

AAP RTV mp/rp

KEYWORD: OVERBOARD FAMILY (MELBOURNE)

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