Australian court to rule on refugees by weekend
A court decision on the fate of a boatload of refugees refused entry to Australia by Prime Minister John Howard will be made by the end of the week, a judge said today.
Civil rights lawyers have argued at the Federal Court in Melbourne that the 433 refugees, plucked by the crew of a Norwegian cargo ship from a sinking Indonesian ferry on August 27, should be allowed into Australia to have their asylum applications processed.
The federal Government claims they should have been taken to Indonesia, which was the closest land to where they were rescued in the Indian Ocean.
Lawyers for the Government said the refugees forfeited their rights when they forced the captain of the Norwegian ship that rescued them, the MV Tampa, to take them to the remote Australian outpost of Christmas Island.
If Federal Court justice Tony North rules that the Government acted illegally in turning away the boat people, they will be brought to Australia to have their asylum applications processed.
The Government has said it would appeal against such a decision.
The refugees, mostly from Afghanistan, were today on board the Australian naval troop carrier HMAS Manoora steaming toward Papua New Guinea. They are expected to arrive early next week.
Under a deal brokered by Howard over the weekend, the refugees will be flown from Papua New Guinea to New Zealand and the tiny Pacific state of Nauru where their applications will be processed.
Howard’s hardline stance provoked a storm of international criticism, with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Norway leading condemnation of Australia’s handling of the crisis.
But at home Howard’s popularity soared. Opinion polls showed 77% of voters agreed with his policy and 74% approved of how he handled the affair.
Just months from a federal election, Howard’s approval rating jumped 10 points, the biggest increase since he introduced tough gun control laws after a shooting massacre in 1996.
Yesterday four Indonesians accused of trying to sneak the boat people into Australia were arraigned on charges of people-smuggling. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
A delegation of ministers from Australia was due to meet with Indonesian officials tomorrow to discuss ways of clamping down on illegal people smuggling rings.
