UN rejects Tampa refugee claims

The Norwegian freighter Tampa last year, shadowed by an Australian warship

CANBERRA, Australia -- More than half of the 433 asylum seekers rescued in August last year from a sinking ferry bound for Australia have been denied refugee status.

The fate of the mainly Afghani and Iraqi asylum seekers sparked an international incident after the Australian government denied entry to the Norwegian freighter, Tampa, which had rescued the boatpeople.

The government sent in Special Air Services troops to ensure the Tampa could not disembark the asylum seekers on the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island.

Arguing the boatpeople should have been taken to the nearest Indonesian port, not Australian territory, the Howard government arranged for them to be transferred to the Pacific Island nation of Nauru to be processed by the UN.

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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has now decided that the majority of the boatpeople held in detention on Nauru did not qualify for refugee protection visas.

This low rate can largely be attributed to the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan and the resulting lessening of personal threat for many applicants.

"The majority, which is 219 people, have not been found to be refugees even though they may have had a legitimate claim at the time they left Afghanistan, at which time the Taliban controlled the majority of the country," Associated Press quotes UNHCR spokeswoman Marissa Bandharangshi as saying.

So far, only 32 of the asylum seekers on Nauru have been granted refugee status.

New Zealand also has accepted 59 of the refugees. The remainder are still waiting for a decision.

Resettlement offer

The Australian government is now urging those Afghani asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected to accept a Aust. $2,000 ($1,140) resettlement offer to return home.

The offer, which climbs to Aust. $10,000 for families, is considered generous given the annual average Afghani income is only Aust. $200.

Asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected are able to appeal the decision through the Australian legal system, a process which can take many years to complete.

Meanwhile, the government of Nauru is getting restless over the time taken for the processing to be completed.

Nauru agreed to take the boatpeople in return for Aust. $30 million in assistance and an assurance the detention camps would be empty by May 31.