Australian forces board stranded vessel

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, AUG. 29. Australian Special Air Service (SAS) commandos today boarded the Norwegian vessel, Tampa, which has 434 refugees on board, after the captain of the freighter entered Australian waters in a bid to land his human cargo on Christmas Island.

The Tampa was not allowed to dock and Australian troops continue to be on board the vessel in order to prevent it from coming into Christmas Island. The ship was reported to be adrift after the captain ordered the engines of the Tampa to be turned off.

The refugees on board the container vessel will be spending their fourth night at sea after being rescued by the Tampa from certain death on Sunday after their Indonesian ferry began to sink.

In Canberra, the Australian Prime Minister, Mr. John Howard, told Parliament: ``The ship is now in the control of the SAS.''

Mr. Karsten Klepsvik, a Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said if the commandos took physical control of the ship and forced it out to sea that ``will be something else and will be a very serious situation''.

Norway is also reporting Australia's refusal to allow the Tampa to dock to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Maritime Organisation.

``Norway has so far not asked for direct assistance, but we have given them an orientation about the extraordinary situation on board the ship,'' the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Mr. Thorbjoern Jagland, said in Oslo.

According to Mr. Jagland, the 1951 International Convention on Refugees made it clear that refugees rescued on the high seas were to be taken immediately to the nearest port and Norway wanted Australia to accept responsibility for the 434 refugees.

That the Australian Government has no intention of respecting international maritime norms (the Tampa captain gave a Mayday signal before sailing into Australian waters today) became clear when a Bill was introduced in Parliament to allow the Government to forcibly remove the Tampa from Australian waters.

``The Bill on entry into force will operate from 9 a.m. today,'' Mr. Howard was quoted as telling Parliament. The Bill will allow the Government to order a vessel and all on board to be taken outside the country's territorial waters even if the captain of the vessel refuses to comply.

People who jump off the ship or are taken away for medical treatment will be returned to the vessel and action taken under the Bill will not be allowed to be challenged in a court of law.

The Australian action was condemned by the Norwegian Prime Minister, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, who has been in touch with Mr. Howard. ``One cannot force a ship which the captain deems unfit to sail into international waters... the Australian Prime Minister did not agree with me,'' Mr. Stoltenberg was quoted as telling Norwegian radio.

With the Government rushing through legislation in Parliament and the public support for the Howard administration's actions from the Opposition Labour Party, it is clear that Canberra is charting its own course.

The strategy adopted by the Government is exactly what the anti- immigrant, far-right ``One Nation'' party has advocated. At a time when the Liberal alliance is in danger of losing power, commando action in the high seas will, the Liberal alliance hopes, bring some voters back to the fold. Interestingly, civil society in the tiny Christmas Island has come out in favour of letting the refugees land.

Several community groups and six of the Island's 10 elected representatives said in a joint statement: ``The elected representatives of the people of Christmas Island are ashamed of the actions of the Prime Minister of our country. We believe it is our humanitarian duty to assist the captain and crew of the Tampa and the asylum-seekers by offering safe refuge on Christmas Island,'' the statement added.

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Section  : International
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