World News 30-08-2001 Asylum Ship Defies Aussie SAS who: Australian SAS what: Are no better than pirates, says captain of asylum ship where: Australia when: Yesterday snippet: "The captain of the ship with 438 asylum-seekers trapped on board was last night refusing to take orders from Australian SAS troops who tried to take over the Tampa," reports The Times. "Captain Rinnan condemned the 37-strong boarding party of armed SAS men, claiming that they almost provoked a riot among frightened Afghan families as they clambered up rope ladders on to his container ship." The cargo ship rescued the refugees when their ferry foundered off Indonesia three days ago. Mostly Afghans, they asked to be taken to Australia. "Australia defended sending in the SAS by insisting the boat people are illegal immigrants, not real refugees," says The Sun. "But the ships` owners branded the soldiers pirates." Meanwhile, Australian Democrat party leader Natasha Stott Despoja opposed this "ban on refugees", reports The Guardian, calling it "a display of outrageous callousness." And Norway, which is home to the Tampa, has appealed to the International Red Cross, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and other aid agencies to intervene, reports the ITN. The incident coincides not only with forthcoming elections but with an increasing public outcry over public expenditure on "housing and caring for the thousands of asylum seekers who arrive each year," explains Geoff Spencer in The Independent. "Australia is a popular destination with refugees, mainly from the Middle East and South Asia, because they believe Australian courts are generous in granting visas." [... more]

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