From Lucky Country to Fearful Land

The Tasi Diak (Good Sea) was spotted from the air only after a tip-off from Aussie and Timorese activists plotting its progress. Although the boat had no communications equipment, its Darwin-based support crew knew what was happening before the Coastguard pulled alongside the small vessel.

Seventeen adults and one baby had spent almost a week crossing the Timor Sea from Indonesian-occupied East Timor, hoping the maps in their two-dimensional school atlas made sense on the high seas. Several of the passengers on the boat were victims of torture at the hands of Indonesian troops for the crime of peacefully protesting their brutal occupation.