East Timor lifeline for 'Tampa' refugees

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Australia insists 'Tampa' must leave its waters

The small and poor country of East Timor is willing to help the impasse over 460 refugees stranded on a cargo ship in Australian waters, saying it would consider giving them temporary shelter.

But there was confusion about the willingness of Australia to co-operate - even though they insist the ship that rescued them must leave their territorial waters off Christmas Island.

Despite approaching officials in Dili about the proposal, Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer later said that his country was unlikely to send the refugees to East Timor because the country still has no formal government.

"It would be a gross overstatement for there to be a focus on East Timor," he said. "We are having discussions with a number of countries. It's much less likely to be East Timor than somewhere else."

Bernard Kerblat, head of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in East Timor had said: "We have the capability of dealing with 15,000 refugees.

"The sooner this crisis is resolved through the most intelligent solution, the better for the individuals involved."

East Timor's de facto foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta said the tiny half-island territory that won independence from Indonesia would be happy to house the refugees as long as they did not stay too long and the UN agreed to pay all costs.

"We would look upon it favourably," he said.

As the refugees began their fifth day in sweltering temperatures on the deck of Tampa, a Norwegian container ship off remote Christmas Island, Prime Minister John Howard said he saw no early resolution to the standoff.

"I believe it is in Australia's national interest that we draw a line on what is increasingly becoming an uncontrollable number of illegal arrivals in this country," he said.

Australia also was talking with other countries, including Norway and New Zealand, as it sought to solve the problem. Officials from Australia, Indonesia and Norway were to meet later Friday in Geneva for further talks.

In a statement, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark welcomed what she termed the "internationalisation" of the issue, and said her government is examining whether it can be part of a solution.

Officials said New Zealand's Labour-led government was expected to offer to take up to 100 of the asylum seekers.

In the year leading up to June 30, 4,141 people arrived in Australia in boats seeking asylum, the government said.

Howard rejected international criticism that his government is being inhumane.

"Some of that criticism is coming from countries and from people who are far less generous in taking refugees than is Australia," he said.

He also called for a more coordinated attack on international people-smuggling rings.

"We have to say to other countries that there needs to be a better international effort to reduce the level of people smuggling, there has to be a more combined international effort involving the United Nations," Howard said.

Plucked from a sinking Indonesian ferry on Monday, the 460 asylum seekers - most of them from Afghanistan - have since been in a diplomatic limbo as Australia, Norway and Indonesia refuse to take them.

The refugees, who reportedly include four pregnant women and victims of dysentery, are being watched by elite Australian Special Air Service commandos who boarded the ship on Wednesday after it defied an Australian order to remain away from the island. Military doctors also examined the refugees.

Wearing a camouflage coat and life jacket, Norway's Australian ambassador, Ove Thorsheim, visited the ship today, ferried in an inflatable motor boat by six Australian commandos, to check on the condition of the refugees and the ship's crew.

He called for the ship to be allowed to let the refugees go.

"There is no other solution than the people coming ashore," he told reporters.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, former Irish president Mary Robinson, has urged Australia to let the refugees land; the US based Human Rights Watch has accused it of "moral cowardice"; and the US State Department urged all three countries to end the standoff.

Howard's hard-line stance appeared to have gained him greater popularity domestically as Australia prepares for a general election later this year. Earlier this week, more than 80% of people calling radio shows to discuss the standoff supported Howard.

But opposition was emerging. About 70 people conducted a noisy protest in Melbourne today, chanting: "Don't Tampa with human rights." Using SAS, the abbreviation of the commandos' unit, they also shouted, "SOS not SAS."

After Tampa rescued the refugees in the Indian Ocean on Monday, it headed for Christmas Island when some of those rescued threatened to kill themselves or attack the crew.

Since being occupied by Australian forces, the ship has floated at sea along the horizon from the jungle-covered island, with the refugees on board huddling for shelter under tarpaulins or inside empty cargo containers.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen, the company that operates the Tampa, said it had no plans to move the ship, claiming it is not certified to carry so many people.

The army has been ferrying supplies to the ship by helicopter since Thursday afternoon. Extra military personnel were also flown to the island and tents were erected on its shoreline.

Christmas Island is Australia's remotest territory. The 15 mile long island, with a population of 1,500, is 1,400 miles northwest of the nearest major Australian city, Perth. It is a magnet for illegal people-smuggling gangs because of its closeness to Indonesia - just two days voyage by wooden fishing boat.

Hundreds have arrived this way over the years, including 1,300 in the past four weeks. Usually they are taken ashore and flown to the Australian mainland to detention centres.

Australia is a popular destination for refugees, mainly from the Middle East and South Asia, because they believe Australian courts are generous in granting visas.