Australia unveils laws to keep out asylum-seekers

John Howard's government stepped up its campaign against unauthorised asylum-seekers yesterday, unveiling increased penalties for "people smugglers" and tough laws to deter those seeking sanctuary in Australia.

The legislation, which is supported by the opposition Labor Party, was unveiled as the first of nearly 700 asylum-seekers shipped by Australia to the South Pacific wasteland of Nauru prepared to disembark.

The government triggered international outrage when it took the unprecedented decision three weeks ago to turn away the MS Tampa, a Norwegian freighter that responded to an Australian coastguard alert to rescue 433 Afghan migrants from an Indonesian ferry sinking in the Indian Ocean.

But at home, it has been riding a wave of popular support. An opinion poll to be published today in the news magazine The Bulletin shows that backing for Mr Howard's conservative Liberal/National Party coalition has risen to 60 per cent, its highest level since 1976. The coalition, which had been trailing in the polls, now looks certain to win a general election expected in November.

The proposed legislation will remove outlying territories such as Christmas Island, Ashmore Reef and the Cocos Islands from Australia's migration zone. Asylum-seekers who land there will be processed under stricter criteria than those used on the mainland and will have no recourse to the Australian courts.

The territories are favoured spots for people smugglers to dump their human cargo, because they lie a relatively short voyage from Indonesia or, in the case of the Cocos, Sri Lanka.

Another new, retrospective law will strengthen Australia's authority to turn away asylum-seekers.

The people smugglers, who often dispatch their clients in unseaworthy boats after relieving them of their life savings, will face minimum penalties of five years for a first conviction and eight years for a second.

The 433 Afghans, with 233 mainly Iraqi asylum-seekers intercepted on a separate boat, were taken to Nauru on the navy troop carrier HMAS Manoora so that Australia could avoid processing them. On Monday, the government successfully appealed against a court ruling ordering them to be returned to Australia.

With some of the Manoora's occupants refusing to leave, the Immigration Minister, Philip Ruddock, did not rule out the use of force to get them on to dry land.

Two navy helicopters ferried supplies to and from the ship yesterday as curious locals gathered at the harbour. At least 100 asylum-seekers are expected to be brought ashore today and taken to a makeshift camp in the island's bleak hinterland.

Mark Getchell, regional representative of the International Office of Migration, a non-governmental organisation that handles refugees, said that the intention was to test the facilities on Nauru with an initial group.

Since warding off the asylum-seekers from the Tampa, Australia has mounted naval patrols to prevent further boats from entering its waters, a costly and controversial exercise that defies the spirit of the United Nations convention on refugees.

The government says it adopted its hardline refugee policy to stem the rising tide of "boat people" washing up on its shores. However, fewer than 5,000 asylum-seekers arrived illegally last year, a tiny number compared with the totals received by European nations. Most were fleeing war and persecution in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and nearly all were granted refugee status by Australia.

Mr Howard's rising fortunes are also attributed to the terrorist attacks in the United States, since voters traditionally favour incumbent governments in times of crisis.

The government has been quick to make political capital of events on the other side of the Pacific, claiming that they reinforce the necessity to secure national borders against potential terrorists arriving penniless in leaky boats.

* Three people were rescued unharmed yesterday after jumping off a stranded fishing trawler crammed with scores of illegal immigrants determined to reach Italy, authorities in Athens said.

The incident occurred as a Greek Navy troop carrier was heading toward the vessel in the Ionian Sea to negotiate the transport of the immigrants to the Greek mainland.

The merchant marine ministry said there were about 200 immigrants on the disabled trawler, which was spotted on Monday in international waters about 90 miles west of the Greek island of Lefkada.

But the immigrants, who identified themselves as Iraqi Kurds and Afghans, said there were about 400 aboard. They refused to give themselves up to the Greek authorities, saying they were seeking asylum in Italy, the ministry said.