Nine of the 157 Tamil asylum seekers detained at sea for nearly a month by the Australian government were taught how to pilot orange lifeboats, lawyers for the group said.



The nine adults and along with two children were shown the orange lifeboats and told that they would be put in them and would need to navigate them to India, the lawyers said.

Although only one or two could understand, they were instructed in English and told that each boat would carry 50-60 people, the lawyers said. When the Tamils said they would refuse to get into the boats, they were told it was an Australian government decision and they had to obey.

The plan, which it is believed was revealed to the Tamils around 14 July, was never implemented. All 157 were transferred to Curtin detention centre in WA on 27 July before being transferred to Nauru in a secret nighttime operation on Saturday 1 August.

Hugh DeKretser, one of their lawyers, said: “It’s not clear why the government eventually decided not to proceed with the lifeboat plan but the whole episode reveals the desperate measures they are prepared to use regardless of the human cost.

The account confirms details about the lifeboat instruction given to Tamil Refugee Council (TRC) representatives, who spoke to one of the Tamil asylum seekers on Sunday afternoon.

In a statement, the TRC detailed a harrowing account of the voyage, where it was alleged that fathers could only see their children once every three of four days aboard the Australian customs vessel where they were detained, and that basic provisions, including food and clothing, were not adequately provided.



The asylum seeker reportedly told the TRC that the nine men briefed with piloting the boats were told three days after the Australian government gave an undertaking to the high court not to transfer the asylum seekers in to Sri Lanka without 72 hours written notice.



“We learned of the court move on a Friday. Then, on the Monday, nine of us were taken out of our rooms and given training on how to drive the lifeboats that were on the ship,” the asylum seeker is quoted as saying.



“They showed us a map of Sri Lanka and India. They pointed at a city in south India called Kanyakumari. They told us that in five hours ‘you’ll see the shore’. They said that any moment you will be put on the boats and you must be very careful driving them. We were all very scared. We refused to eat after that.”

The statement continues to document conditions on board: “We had very limited food on the ship. When the children cried out for milk, the officers would come and lock the door and give them nothing. The children were always crying out for food. They would cry throughout the night. We couldn’t do anything. We were hungry as well.



“Initially, there were no extra clothes for us. When the women had their periods they were struggling and crying out. They had no sanitary pads or anything to help them. Many of the children were sick. A little girl, Febrina, was very sick. She had a fever the whole time.



“Only in the last day or so, when we were being taken to the Cocos Island, they gave us clothing, more food and treated us better.”



Guardian Australia has contacted the immigration minister for a response to the claims .

Guardian Australia has been told by Nauru sources that the 157 Tamils have been moved to the family camp on Nauru, where a compound “Area 5” has been reopened to house the asylum seekers. It is understood this area had previously been closed because of problems with mould. It is unclear if these problems have been resolved.



The statement continues that an altercation occurred when the asylum seekers were forcibly removed from Curtin detention centre to Nauru.



It says, as Guardian Australia reported on Saturday, that a number of the asylum seekers arrived on Nauru with ripped clothing.



The asylum seeker quoted by the TRC claims that those involved in the high court action were taken to a room at Curtin detention centre last Friday and asked to sign papers agreeing transfer to Nauru after lawyers acting for the asylum seekers said they would visit the Tamils at Curtin on Tuesday.



“They asked us to sign a paper agreeing for us to go to Nauru. We refused. But despite this, they forced us on to a plane,” the man is quoted as saying.



“Many of us tried to resist the officers from taking us. Two or three women had their clothing torn away. Their bras were torn. They had to travel on the plane holding towels to cover themselves. Men also had their clothing torn.”



On Sunday, immigration minister Scott Morrison repeated his policy of not commenting on “on-water matters” when asked by the ABC if the Australian government had planned to send the Tamils back to India with orange lifeboats.

