Court rules asylum seekers must land in Australia

Australian navy patrol boats are also used to apprehend illegal fishing vessels

MELBOURNE, Australia -- An Australian court has ruled that more than 400 asylum seekers currently being taken to Papua New Guinea aboard a navy ship should be allowed to come to Australia, overruling a government decision to turn them away.

The Australian government had already promised to appeal the case, if it lost.

Federal Court justice Tony North ruled that Australia illegally detained the 433 asylum seekers and should now allow them to land on Australian soil.

Civil rights lawyers earlier challenged the government's decision to turn away the mostly Afghan asylum seekers and argued that because Australian troops were holding the asylum seekers on board a navy vessel, they were in Australian jurisdiction and should be allowed to seek legal advice.

VIDEO The island of Nauru offered to take in the asylum seekers -- but for a price. CNN's Tim Lister reports (September 11) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition   EXTRA INFORMATION Australia's tide of refugees     AUDIO Judge Tony North on the verdict 686 KB / 1 min 3 secs WAV sound   AUDIO Civil liberties lawyer triumphs 3.41MB / 2 min 42 secs WAV sound   MORE STORIES • One too many asylum seekers     COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Australia Provided by CountryWatch.com

Government lawyers responded by saying that the refugees forfeited those rights when they forced the captain of a Norwegian cargo ship that rescued them in the Indian Ocean to sail to Australia, rather than Indonesia, which was nearer.

Justice North gave the government until 5 p.m. (0700 GMT) Friday to comply unless there was an appeal.

There was no immediate reaction from the government, which earlier said it would appeal any ruling ordering it to allow the refugees to land on Australian soil.

Nauru deal

The 433 asylum seekers are bound for Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, aboard the Australian troop carrier Manoora.

Once in Port Moresby, the asylum-seekers were to be flown to either New Zealand or Nauru to have their refugee status assessed.

Meanwhile, Australia struck a multi-million dollar deal with the tiny Pacific island of Nauru Monday to take an extra 237 asylum-seekers, believed to be from Iraq off its hands.

Australian government officials said Monday they would provide Nauru with fuel, medical expenses and power generators in exchange for accepting the additional asylum-seekers for processing after they were picked up by the Australian Navy late Friday.

Nauru, the world's smallest republic with 12,000 people on 21 square km (eight square miles), has emerged as Australia's white knight since Canberra refused to allow a Norwegian cargo ship to land 433 mainly Afghan asylum seekers it rescued at sea.

New Zealand also agreed to accept 150 of the asylum-seekers.

New legislation

The additional asylum-seekers were picked up following the interception Friday night of a boat off Australia's remote northwest coast.

They were then transferred to the Manoora which took on extra supplies to cope with the increased numbers from the northern Australian town of Darwin at the weekend.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, currently in the United States, said the government would introduce legislation into parliament which would be backdated to make it tougher for people arriving by boat to lodge claims for asylum.

The 433 asylum seekers already on the Manoora were the center of a diplomatic standoff between Australia, Indonesia and Norway when they were rescued from a sinking Indonesian ferry by the Norwegian ship Tampa.

The cargo ship remained off Australia's Christmas Island for eight days after Australia refused permission for it to dock.