Australia appeals against ship ruling

Nauru continues its preparations to receive the refugees

The Australian Government has appealed against a court ruling that it was not entitled to turn away hundreds of Afghan migrants now being held on an Australian troopship.

It has also ordered the ship to sail straight to the Pacific island state of Nauru for processing instead of stopping first at Papua New Guinea, as originally planned.

We think that's likely to be a much less complicated but somewhat more timely solution

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer

The change of plan will extend the sea voyage of the asylum seekers, most of them Afghan, by 2,350 kilometres (1,460 miles).

Upholding a case brought by civil liberties campaigners, Australia's federal court declared them to have been illegally detained when they were refused permission to disembark on Australian soil from a Norwegian freighter that rescued them from a sinking ferry.

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Judge Anthony North ordered the government to allow them to land on mainland Australia by 5pm local time (0700 GMT) on Friday.

The government's appeal against this decision is expected to be heard on Wednesday.

The ruling is a setback for John Howard's government

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said: "Subject to the outcome of the appeal our plan is for the ship to proceed directly to Nauru rather than via Papua New Guinea.

"We think that's likely to be a much less complicated but somewhat more timely solution."

The troop carrier HMAS Manoora is carrying more than 600 refugees - 433 were turned away last month and 237 were picked up from another Indonesian boat on Saturday. The court ruling does not apply to the second group.

The first group of refugees were prevented by Special Air Service (SAS) troops from landing on Australia's Christmas Island two weeks ago after being rescued by the MV Tampa from an Indonesian ferry that subsequently sank.

In his ruling, the judge said the SAS troops who boarded the Tampa had detained the refugees illegally.

An ancient power of the court is to protect people against detention without lawful authority

Judge Tony North

"They procured the closing of the harbour so that the rescuees would be isolated, they did not allow communication with the rescuees, they did not consult with them about the arrangements being made for their physical relocation or future plans," he said.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the government disagreed "very strongly" with this.

"We believe that the decisions that were taken all through this on advice from Commonwealth officers have been lawful," he said.

Tuesday also saw court appearances by three of the four Indonesians accused of attempting to illegally land the first group of refugees on Australian soil.

Bastian Disun, 32, Nordames Nordin, 31, and Aldo Benjamin, 21, were remanded in custody to re-appear in Perth Magistrate's Court on 9 October.

The fourth Indonesian, a juvenile who cannot be named under Australian law, will appear in Perth Children's Court on Wednesday.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard's hardline response to international criticism of his role in the crisis has won him widespread domestic support ahead of an election that is expected to be called later this year.

New migration laws

The latest events come as Australian naval forces attempt to refloat another boat carrying 130 Afghan and Iranian boat people which ran aground on Ashmore reef off Australia's north-west coast.

Ashmore Reef and Christmas Island are favoured drop-off points for mainly Middle Eastern, Afghan and Pakistani asylum seekers who pay criminal syndicates for passage to Australia.

The government plans to introduce new laws next week to remove both from its migration zone, meaning that anyone arriving there will not be entitled to seek asylum in Australia.

About 5,000 boat people have arrived in Australia annually in recent years, a sharp rise on the few hundred who arrived five years ago.

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