The intentions of [Tampa] Captain Arne Rinnan are clear: to overstate the condition of the illegals on his freighter to compel Australia to allow the vessel in. Despite any sympathy that most would feel for the plight of the people from the oppressed regimes of Afghanistan and other countries, they cannot be classified as refugees until their status is determined. The Daily Telegraph, Sydney-based tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch
Despite the emotion about asylum seekers, it will remain impossible to convince most Australians [that] illegal immigrants paying people-smugglers to fly to Indonesia deserve a place in the queue before the 12m people classified as genuine refugees by the UN. The Courier Mail, Murdoch-owned, Brisbane-based broadsheet
Australians want to send a strong signal to people-smugglers and those who use their service that they do not like to be treated like mugs. The Tampa episode has given the government an opportunity to do so. The West Australian, independently owned tabloid based in Perth
The prime minister is right to insist that Australia cannot allow unrestricted entry. But a container ship with a human cargo cannot be willed away. Rising above the debate was the voice of a Tampa sailor, who described conditions on board as terrible. He said simply: "These people need help". The Melbourne Age, broadsheet owned by the Fairfax group
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4247545,00.html
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Australian soldiers board mercy ship Sydney Morning Herald 29 August 2001
Australian troops today took control of the Norwegian container ship MS Tampa and its cargo of 438 asylum seekers after it breached territorial waters at Christmas Island. The vessel's captain, Arne Rinnan issued a mayday call and defied an Australia directive not to enter the territorial waters. Australian Special Air Services (SAS) troops immediately boarded the vessel and took control of it, Prime minister John Howard told parliament today. Mr Howard said the shipping company had indicated it was disinclined to return the Tampa to international waters, which created a serious situation. The vessel now lies four to five nautical miles from Christmas Island.
Mr Howard said the government would take whatever action was needed, within the law, to prevent the ship landing. He said helicopters would be available to take supplies to the ship within an hour and the matter was still under discussion with the company. Indonesian earlier reiterated it would not accept a Norwegian ship carrying 438 asylum-seekers. "Indonesia will not accept illegal migrants ... although we understand that their intention was not to come to Indonesia but to Australia," Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda told AFP. Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland yesterday urged Australia to accept the ship, saying it would be "standard practice to allow the refugees to enter the nearest port ". Today's events followed a 48-hour standoff after the Norwegian vessel picked up the asylum seekers, mainly Afghanis, from a sinking Indonesian fishing vessel on Sunday. After waiting three days off Christmas Island, the Tampa's captain lost patience and steamed to within four nautical miles of land. The ship's master was overheard on radio requesting permission to dock. Permission was denied and military vessels went out to the Tampa with the SAS troops aboard. The ship's entry into Australian waters contravened "clear advice from the Australian government to the Norwegian government and also very clear advice to the master of the motor vessel Tampa," Mr Howard told parliament in Canberra. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer had told Norway if the boat entered Australian waters, action would be taken to stop and board the ship, Mr Howard said. "He pointed out that any entry into Australian territorial waters would be a breach of international law, and that Australia would take any action that was necessary to stop the Tampa from moving any further into Australian territorial waters," he said. Mr Howard said the Tampa's actions left Australia with no alternative but to instruct the military to board and secure the vessel. "My advice is that units of the Special Air Service under the command of lieutenant colonel Gus Gilmore executed this instruction over an hour ago," he said. "The ship is now in the control of the SAS."
[...] Full article at http://www.smh.com.au/news/0108/29/national/national110.html
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Sydney Morning Herald - Opinion Friday, 31 August, 2001 Skipper Howard all at sea without a moral compass. The plight of refugees aboard the Tampa has revealed huge tears in Australia's proud image of itself as a tolerant society. By Jennifer Hewett
This is ugly - and getting uglier. Captain Arne Rinnan could have had no idea when he picked up refugees from a sinking boat at sea that he was sailing into a culture war on land. The debacle on the Tampa has managed to fuse all the inchoate fears and prejudices over race, religion and identity in Australia into one giant, highly emotional conflagration. It's also demonstrated - once again - that Australia's much professed pride in its racial tolerance and cultural diversity has plenty of large rips through it. Somehow, public consciousness moves straight from cases of gang rape by young Lebanese Muslims in Sydney's west to the need to protect Australia by turning back hordes of Afghan Muslims to anti-immigration feelings in general to the idea that our Aussie values - not to mention, ahem, OUR WAY OF LIFE - are under threat. The logic may be as tortured as the syntax on talkback radio, but there's no doubt that John Howard drilled right into the mother lode of community sentiment when he first told Captain Rinnan to take his ship anywhere but here.
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Full article at http://www.smh.com.au/news/0108/31/opinion/opinion5.html
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