PERTH, Australia, Aug 29 (AFP) -
A Norwegian freighter packed with hundreds of refugees, many of them sick, was Wednesday heading for the nearest island despite Australia's refusal to take in the desperate Afghan asylum-seekers.
The harbour master at Christmas Island, a tiny Australian territory perched in the Indian Ocean, said the Tampa was about four nautical miles from the Australian territory and well inside the 12 nautical-mile limit.
"It has broken Australian territorial boundaries and is holding its position four miles off shore," Harbour Master Don O'Donnell said. "I can't say anymore."
The sudden move by the Tampa came as a major relief operation swung into operation after talks between Australia, Indonesia and Norway failed to reach agreement on the fate of the 438 asylum seekers on board.
Most are on hunger strike and many were suffering dehydration or diarrhoea as they entered their fourth day without shelter on the deck in the sweltering heat since they were rescued off Indonesia on Sunday.
At least three of the 26 women are pregnant and 15 of the refugees were reported here to have fallen unconscious.
Three Australian vessels were reported to have left Christmas Island harbour on their way to meet the Tampa.
A fleet of Hercules transport planes has landed on the island with emergency supplies and troops, as Canberra has said it is prepared to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis but will not let the ship land on Australian territory.
A team of immigration officials has also arrived by charter aircraft in what some see as a sign of preparations to take the refugees if the government relents.
A squadron of elite SAS troops were reported to be on standby in case of sudden emergency such as the need to protect the crew in the event of a riot aboard the ship.
Residents of Christmas Island Wednesday took pity on the refugees, appealing to the government to allow them to land and saying they are ashamed Australia has turned them away.
"We believe it is our humanitarian duty to assist the captain and crew of the Tampa and the asylum seekers by offering safe refuge on Christmas Island," they said in a statement signed by some community leaders.
Mainstream churches, human rights groups and a vocal minority of Australians all appealed to the government to relent and allow the refugees to land.
Prime Minister John Howard said everything possible was being done to get medical help and supplies to the asylum seekers, but maintained his tough line.
"We have assembled medical supplies and we have doctors on Christmas Island," he told ABC radio.
"My latest advice is that by about midday or early afternoon it will be possible for a helicopter to go to the Tampa and land a doctor along with medical supplies."
The ship's captain, Arne Rinnan, was reported to have sent a distress signal late Tuesday appealing for medical help after 15 people fell unconscious on its deck.
But Rinnan declined to confirm this Wednesday and told ABC radio there were at least six very sick people whom he believed needed to be taken off the ship.
"Only thing I can tell you is we have a lot of sick people on deck now," he said. "We are not medical personnel, we are only seamen, everyone on board."
Howard said Australia's capacity to handle further arrivals of boat people was at breaking point and the world needed to understand it could not continue.
But he insisted the only solution for those on the Tampa was to return to Indonesia, from where they had started their voyage.
"Our position is very clear," he said. "They do not have a right of entry to Australia.
"This is a very important issue for Australia. We are trying to make it plain to the rest of the world that we cannot go on indefinitely with the situation we have faced over the past several years. Our capacity to take unauthorised arrivals is at breaking point."
PHOTO CAPTION:
Around 400 refugees, including pregnant women, children and sick people on a ferry stranded in the Indian Ocean are seen before they were rescued on board the Norwegian cargo ship Tampa, off the remote Christmas Islands, August 27, 2001. Australian troops boarded the freighter on August 29 after the ship broke into Australian territorial waters, the island's harbormaster said. (Scanpix via Reuters)