Australia rescues sinking refugees

Australia says it will not change its policy on asylum

The Australian Navy has rescued about 230 asylum seekers from their sinking boat after a 10-day standoff near Australia's remote Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean.

A great number of people are very relieved that finally the government has been forced to bring these people ashore

Councillor Gordon Thompson

Australian Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the asylum seekers would be housed in a sports hall on the island while the government considered its options.

But a councillor on Christmas Island, Gordon Thompson, criticised the government's handling of the situation. He said the asylum seekers been forced to endure inhumane conditions on the ship.

"A great number of people are very relieved that finally the government has been forced to bring these people ashore," he said.

Mr Ruddock said a second vessel with about 230 people had been turned back to Indonesian waters near Ashmore Reef.

Under Australia's tough new policy, boats carrying refugees are turned around and escorted to international waters unless they are sinking.

The government has said the policy will remain despite an accident earlier this month in which more than 350 asylum seekers drowned off the coast of Java.

Election issue

Australia is in the middle of a general election campaign and the ruling Liberal Party has seen its popularity rise dramatically since Prime Minister John Howard first adopted a hardline policy towards asylum seekers in late August.

Philip Ruddock allowed refugees to be rescued after their boat started sinking

About 1,500 refugees have been turned away in the last two months. The policy has involved sending many of them to Pacific island states while their asylum applications are considered.

But the secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Noel Levi, warned on Monday that agreeing to host processing camps for refugees prevented from reaching Australia could lead to problems.

Speaking at a meeting of the Forum in Vanuatu, Mr Levi said Pacific countries would always do what they could to help those in need.

But such a substantial population influx placed extreme pressure on their already limited resources could expose their small and vulnerable economies to further problems which they could ill afford.

Mr Levi said the islands would be left with a rump population of refugees after other countries had accepted the more highly qualified applicants as immigrants.