SIEVX

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SIEVX

A song by Phyl Lobl ©Phyl Lobl 2002

They went to sea in a sieve they did, in SIEVX they went to sea,
And some call them queue jumpers, but I say refugee
Who will tell their story now if its not you or me

Wives and children took the chance to become a UBA
They paid their fare to freedom from South Sumatra Bay
The papers told of those who found it was their only way.

Abu Quassey set the price that Sonas gladly paid,
To join her husband Ahmed in the plans that they had made,
She could not guess the twisted web of the trap that had been laid.

The overloaded boat it seems had been designed to sink
A neat disruption program with a cruel political link,
A program kept well hidden except to those who think.

I say that there are none so blind as those who let things be,
The Navy’s eyes were blind that day to any refugee,
And smoke and mirrors hid the scheme that stained the Java Sea.

The boat capsized inside the Zone some struggled and survived
But only 44 were left when the rescue boat arrived,
And Sonas told the story of the desperate and deprived.

Her weary arms gave up their load, her precious burden of three
Eman, Zhra and Fatimah were lost to the hungry sea.
Their photo now a symbol of our inhumanity.

THESE VERSES CAN BE OMMITTED
Those who poison basic trust who manufacture fear,
Have left us with a legacy that I find hard to bear,
I hope the world can see that there are some of us who care.

They went to sea in a sieve they did, in SIEVX they went to sea,
And some call them queue jumpers, but I say refugee
And who will tell their story now if not its not you or me.

Notes

Many thanks to Phyl Lobl for premission to add this song (written Dec 2002) to the Union Songs collection. Phyl writes:

"Thanks to Edward Lear & The Jumblies Tony Kevin & the web site SIEVX (http://SIEVX.com) Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel. UBA Unauthorised Boat Arrival"

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