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CNN Sunday Morning

Afghan Refugees Will Be Flown to New Zealand

Aired September 02, 2001 - 08:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of refugees stranded aboard a Norwegian whip may be moving one step closer to land. Australian officials said the Afghan refugees will be flown to New Zealand. The ship is now off Christmas Island, Australia, where CNN's Tom Mintier has been following this story.

Tom, what's the very latest now?

TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, you say one step forward, but then it's also two steps back. There is a federal court in Melbourne, Australia that is hearing a case from the would-be asylum seekers, trying to prevent this transfer from taking place. But the Australian government has reached a deal where they will go off the ship, onto an Australian Navy vessel, a troop vessel, and there they will then be taken to Papua/New Guinea, where they will be transferred to places, taken to the island state of Nauru and to New Zealand for processing and then resettlement.

But the court case, right now, has put everything on hold. Just in the last hour, the court has adjourned and will reconvene tomorrow to hear more of this case, but the case is preventing the deal that has been made from moving forward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MINTIER (voice-over): The deal may be done, what remains is putting it into action. The Australian Navy's troop ship, Manoora, is now set to take the more than 400 asylum seekers to Papua/New Guinea.

JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: The idea is that they should be transferred to the Manoora, then the Manoora will sail to Port Moresby. They will then be transferred to aircraft that will take them to Nauru and to New Zealand.

MINTIER: Preparations are underway to complete the transfer from the Norwegian cargo ship as early as Monday. The Australian prime minister says the troop ship has plenty of room.

HOWARD: It's a large troop ship, it has extensive medical facilities on board, including, I understand, two operating theaters.

MINTIER: The Manoora was relocated by the Australian government from a training exercise in the South China Sea. It arrived over the weekend and is capable to the journey to Papua/New Guinea. While the Australian government and the military is ready, what is still being debated is occurring in a Melbourne courtroom. The asylum seekers have applied for refuge in Australia and a judge has already ordered that the vessel holding them not be moved to international waters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MINTIER: What you can see behind me are the supplies that the Australian military has brought in, supplies that they have been ferrying out to their troop ship throughout the day, trying to get ready for the transfer they say was supposed to be finished by Monday evening here, but now may be delayed not just days, but it could be even weeks.

While this court case is a major stumbling block, it may mean that those on the ship will have to stay on the ship even longer. Now, the Norwegian ambassador to Australia just returned shortly from now back from the ship and says conditions are OK on the ship, but it is very difficult there. Martin.

SAVIDGE: Tom, just curious, what is public opinion like in Australia? How is it running? Either for or against this case?

MINTIER: Well, it's divided. There are some who say that these people should be allowed to come onshore and there are others that say that John Howard has taken the right stand by trying to keep them off land and prevent them from becoming asylum seekers.

SAVIDGE: As the lights go out. Tom Mintier, thank you very much. It's not always easy reporting from remote locations. Thank you.

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