Who was Amal Basry and why do we mourn her passing?

Amal Basry, who died of breast cancer in Melbourne last Saturday, was one of approximately 68 survivors of the boat now known as SIEV-X (Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel Unknown) which sank on 19 October 2001 in the Indian Ocean with the loss of 353 lives, refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan fleeing to Australia.
Senator Andrew Bartlett (Dem, Qld) has paid tribute to Ms Basry in his blog, while there is a detailed account of her story by Marg Hutton on her Sievx.com website.

The SIEV-X tragedy, which occurred in international waters but within Australia's aerial border protection surveillance zone, is one of the biggest scandals of the John Howard years, as his government not only attempted to fudge the location of the sinking in order to avoid responsibility, but has refused to hold a proper investigation.

Read the chronology of events on Sievx.com and be angry, very angry, at a government whose arrogance and negligence has caused so much damage to Australia's reputation and so much heartbreak to so many lives over the past ten years.

And give thanks for the courage of Amal Basry and the others who survived that horrendous disaster.