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Monday, 3 September, 2001, 20:45 GMT 21:45 UK
Australia ships out Afghan refugees
![]() Transferring the asylum seekers took three hours
More than 400 mainly Afghan asylum seekers are on their way to Papua New Guinea after the Australian Government stuck to its controversial refusal to let them into the country.
The group was transferred to the Australian troop carrier HMAS Manoora on Monday, ending an eight-day ordeal.
"It was obviously planned very carefully by the Australian defence force, and it went well." A civil liberties group had lost its bid to stop the move, arguing that Australia was legally obliged to accept the refugees - something Australian Prime Minister John Howard refused to consider. The court decided the asylum seekers would be better cared for on the Manoora, which has facilities to carry more than 400 troops, than left sitting in the sun on the decks of the freighter.
Settlement deal Mr Howard announced on Saturday that New Zealand and Nauru had agreed to process the refugees, who were picked up by the Tampa after the boat in which they sailed from Indonesia began to sink. Amid concerns that the Tampa could not make the long journey with hundreds of passengers on deck, Australia decided to transfer them to the Manoora, which is being escorted by a frigate. Australia will meet the costs of the operation, and has also agreed to take some of the refugees, if their claims are judged to be genuine.
It said the best solution would have been to allow them ashore immediately, on Christmas Island, rather than make them endure more time at sea. The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, had also backed such a move. But UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has now accepted the Australian plan, despite reservations.
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