Australian court offers hope for refugees

The Federal Court of Australia has ordered the return to Australia of the asylum-seekers transferred from the Norwegian ship Tampa to the Australian naval vessel HMAS Manoora after the Tampa was prevented from making its intended passage to the Australian mainland. UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said the refugee agency hoped the Australian court decision would herald the end of the two-week ordeal of the asylum-seekers rescued at sea by the Tampa on 26 August 2001. It also anticipated that these people would now be granted “speedy access to fair and effective procedures for determining their status and protection needs in Australia”, he added.

An Indonesian-registered ferry carrying some 400 refugees, most of them Afghans, was bound for Australia when it started to sink, and the refugees were rescued by the Tampa on Sunday, 26 August. The ship was held in Australian territorial waters off Christmas Island before the transfer of the refugees to the HMAS Manoora, which was to take the them to Papua New Guinea, before flying them on to New Zealand and the tiny Pacific island state of Nauru, where their asylum claims were to be assessed. Australia said it had taken a strong stand on the issue in order to send a message to gangs who trafficked illegally in people to the effect that it was determined to stop this “ugly trade”.