Funeral services are being held in Sydney for victims of December's boat tragedy off Christmas Island.
At least 30 people died when the asylum seeker boat known as SIEV 221 crashed on rocks and broke apart at Rocky Point on December 15.
A funeral service was held for seven Muslim victims at Rookwood Cemetery from 10 o'clock this morning and another for Christian victims at Castlebrook Memorial Park in Rouse Hill at 2.30 this afternoon.
The Refugee Action Coalition is holding its own service at Rookwood at 9.30am.
Social Justice Network spokesman Jamal Daoud says it's believed up to 17 bodies arrived at Sydney airport on the weekend and seven funerals are being held at Lidcombe this morning, AAP reports.
Two bodies are being repatriated to Iraq at the request of families. The ABC reported this is due to the anger of some families that the ceremonies put on by the federal government won't adhere to tradition.
AFP have been working to identify 30 victims - 13 men, nine women, four children and four babies who were killed when their wooden boat hit rocks and shattered in heavy seas off Christmas Island on December 15.
Thirteen unidentified bodies remain in the care of the WA Coroner.
Reports from the ABC said some families are not happy that the funerals won't follow Muslim protocol, with relatives upset it has taken two months to bury the disaster victims. They told the network they would not like the bodies buried in a casket, and would like them to be washed at a mosque before burial.
The immigration department said it had worked hard to respect tradition and had consulted muslim leaders.
Relatives in detention will be flown to Sydney to attend the funerals, but will only be released for a short time, the ABC reported.
The opposition has attacked the spending of taxpayer's money on flying the relatives to the funerals.
Opposition immigration spokesman, Scott Morrison, said the government was wasting money, and the funerals should have been held on Christmas Island.
The government ''doesn't understand the value of the taxpayer's money'', Fairfax reported him as saying.
''If people wanted to attend the funeral service from Sydney, for example, who may have been relatives of those who wanted these funeral services, well, they could have held the service on Christmas Island and like any other Australian who would have wanted to go to the funeral of someone close to them, they would have paid for themselves to get on a plane and go there.''
The Refugee Action Coalition told the ABC it highlights the need to end offshore processing.
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