The bodies of nearly 100 asylum seekers on a boat heading for Australia were thrown overboard by starving shipmates, according to reports received by Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor.
Mr O'Connor told Fairfax Radio that 98 Burmese refugees died off the coast of Sri Lanka, after their boat was found by officials earlier in the week.
32 emaciated survivors were rescued after running out of food during the journey from Burma, and being stranded at sea for two months.
Sri Lankan police said survivors told rescuers that they had to throw the bodies of 98 others overboard after they died of starvation and dehydration.
The Australian government is expected to be fully briefed by Sri Lankan authorities about the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
''It is the people smugglers who have lured people onto unseaworthy vessels. It's the people smugglers who peddle lies to these people, take their life savings, sometimes sadly take their lives. That's where I target the blame,'' Mr O'Connor said.
The boat people, plucked to safety by Sri Lanka's navy on Saturday, were taken to the southern port of Galle where they were rushed to hospital to be treated for dehydration and starvation, police said in a statement on Sunday.
Sri Lankan police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody told Reuters that the survivors told police they had carried food and water for only one month, but they had been at sea for two months when their engine stalled.
''Their captain and 97 others have died due to dehydration and starvation. They also said they had thrown the dead bodies into the sea,'' Mr Jayakody said.
Mr O'Connor, who was sworn in as Immigration Minister earlier this month, has urged opposition to re-think its stance on the Houston panel recommendations on asylum seekers, made in August last year.
