Fate of stranded refugees hangs in balance

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, AUG. 28. The fate of 434 Afghan refugees, stranded on board a Norwegian container vessel off Australia's Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, hung in balance as Canberra remained adamant in its decision not to allow the ship to dock.

Indonesia, which had hinted that it might allow the refugees in, today categorically ruled out the possibility as has Norway, the third party involved in what has turned into an international row.

Many of the refugees on the Tampa have begun a hunger strike and threatened to jump overboard in case the freighter decides to turn away from Christmas Island.

``They will jump overboard as soon as we turn around from Christmas Island and they will go crazy, whatever that means,'' the Tampa master, Captain Arne Rinnan, was quoted as saying. ``The tension is increasing down there. As long as they see Christmas Island they are behaving quietly... at the first sign of violence we will lock ourselves in the accommodation. We are seamen, not fighters. We have no weapons on board. This is not a warship,'' the Captain was quoted as saying.

In a related development, Mr. Mohammed Ali, one of the refugees, was quoted in agency reports as saying that tension was high on board the Tampa. ``A lot of people have been in prison and persecuted in their country and do not have any hope... all the people here are educated people and they have political problems in Afghanistan,'' Mr. Ali added.

Some of the refugees were said to be sick and were treated by a team of Australian doctors who were taken by helicopter on board the Tampa.

Australia, a nation made up of immigrants, continues to cite international law, while remaining adamant that these ``boat people'' will not be allowed to land on the country's shores.

In Jakarta, the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr. Hassan Wirayuda, said today: ``We already have experience with these refugees who are illegal immigrants. Should we accept them? Our law will not allow this.

``For that matter, I don't see it is in our interest to land the ship in an Indonesian port... for Indonesia, as a matter of fact and law, is not involved. For that matter, we should not be - as mentioned by some - responsible for the situation,'' Mr. Wirayuda maintained. According to reports, a vast majority of the refugees were Afghans, had crossed the land border into Pakistan, taken a flight to Malaysia, and then taken a boat to Indonesia's Java and Sumatra islands. Finally, they had attempted to reach Australia, only to find their ferry sinking and then being rescued by the Tampa on Sunday evening.

In Oslo, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Norway wanted the Australian Government to accept the boat people.

``This is definitely the solution we would prefer, based on the fact that the ship took action (to rescue the refugees) based on a request from Australian rescue authorities,'' the spokesman said.

``We regard this as a very complicated matter and we cannot let the countries in the region shy way from their responsibilities. According to international law, Norway does not have any responsibility in giving these people asylum. But sooner or later, this case has to be solved,'' he said.

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Section  : International
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