When the boat carrying Iraqi and Iranian asylum-seekers was destroyed at Christmas Island on December 15 the Australian Government asked Kenyon International Emergency Services to identify and repatriate the dead. Kenyons asked one of their Australian operatives, Castle Hill funeral director Allan Drew, to do the job.
Mr Drew said it took two months' meticulous work to ensure every body recovered was correctly identified. He said that was why the funerals of 12 Muslims and five Christians were not held until two weeks ago. "We buried the five Christians at Rouse Hill," he said. They came out here because the people flying down to attend the funerals wanted a private place to say goodbye. So we buried them at Castlebrook because I knew I could control the chapel and ensure privacy."
The funerals held on the same day at Rookwood Necropolis and Castlebrook Memorial Park took five weeks to plan. "We had two local ministers come along to do the funerals at Castlebrook the Reverend David Misztal, of Kenthurst Anglican community, and the Reverend Brenda Robilliard, of Westmead Hospital. Castlebrook gave a commercial discount on the grave sites.
"The people who attended were the children and mothers of people who were on the boat the survivors. They were the kindest, most grateful people. As a family unit they were loving and caring and you could see the desperation in their eyes". Of 13 unidentified bodies left in Perth, nine have since been identified and Mr Drew was confident the others would be identified by the end of this week.
The families of the last 13 bodies have asked for their remains to be returned to the Middle East. "It's estimated there were about 30 more people on the boat. It's safe to say they'll never be found".
This story first appeared in the Northern News on 1 March 2011