Afghan Hazara Batoor recounted his experience to Mark Davis on SBS's Dateline last night.
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He filmed as the boat packed with more than 90 people started to take in water off the Indonesian coast.
“People crying, shouting, and praying loudly. It was like a scene from doomsday,” Batoor recalls.
The boat ended up crashing onto a beach on a remote Indonesian island. Batoor swam for his life and was captured by Indonesian Police.
Now on the run in Jakarta, he's in a limbo, unsure of what to do next.
“It's a big risk for us to go to Australia by boat. We accept that risk because we have nowhere else to go,” Batoor tells Davis.
Batoor and others travelling with him fled their homeland fearing that Taliban gunmen would target them for their work with US forces.
Others from Afghanistan and Pakistan face attacks because of they are Hazaras.
The official process of applying from Indonesia for asylum in Australia can take at least three years, so despite the dangers, Mark Davis finds many would rather risk their lives again on a boat than face the uncertain wait.
Watch Mark's amazing account of this perilous journey above, and read more now on the Dateline website.
