Refugee standoff ends

Landing craft took the refugees ashore

The last of more than 600 asylum seekers shipped by Australia to the Pacific island of Nauru have been brought ashore ending a 12-day standoff.

The final group were among more than 200 mainly Iraqi and Palestinian refugees who were refusing to leave the HMAS Manoora, demanding instead to be taken to Australia.

Nauru chief secretary Matthew Batsuia said: "We can now get on with the real business of processing their asylum claims."

There were some protests as the last groups came ashore

Nauru has agreed to host most of the asylum seekers as part of an aid deal with Australia worth about $10m. About 130, mainly Afghan refugees, have been flown on to New Zealand where their applications are being processed.

Another Australian navy vessel, the HMAS Tobruk, is on its way to Nauru with 262 asylum seekers on board.

Strong criticism

Australia has been strongly criticised for its recently adopted policy of refusing to accept refugees seeking to enter the country by boat.

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, which is processing the claims of those already on Nauru, says it will not help with any more arrivals.

The final group came ashore as dusk fell.

Correspondents said many appeared unhappy. Some argued with the Australian representatives and briefly refused to disembark.

Australia said the standoff was holding up deployments elsewhere

Altogether about 160 people left the Manoora on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for Australia's Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said: "We've been incredibly patient with people. It has taken 12 days to get them off and we're disappointed they did not comply earlier."

Attempts by uniformed troops to forcibly take the refugees ashore had run into trouble earlier this week when Nauru suspended the operation, insisting it would not accept anyone who had not disembarked voluntarily.

The Australian Government said the refugees had to leave because the Manoora was needed to help cover military commitments in the wake of the attacks on US on 11 September.