European Parliament resolution on the situation of 433 Afghan refugees off the coast of Australia
Date: 2001-09-06
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Afghanistan, Australia, aid to refugees, maritime law, political asylum, refugee, right of asylum

C 72 E/348

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.3.2002

Thursday 6 September 2001

18. Human rights: Afghan refugees seeking asylum in Australia

B5-0559, 0570, 0577, 0588, 0597 and 0601/2001

European Parliament resolution on the situation of 433 Afghan refugees off the coast of Australia

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions on asylum policy and on the situation in Afghanistan, in

particular its resolution of 13 June 2001 (1),

(cid:129) having regard to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, to which Australia was one of

the very first contracting parties,

(cid:129) having regard to the International Maritime Organisation Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea and

the relevant law of the sea provision,

A. whereas the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, provoking a continuing exodus of its
population and recognising the severe economic hardship the Afghan people are faced with, which
has been to a large extent brought about by the action of the Taliban regime,

B.

C.

D.

E.

considering that on 26 August 2001 Captain Arne Rinnan of the Norwegian freighter MS Tampa
responded to the distress call from the Australian Search and Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra
and came to the aid of a sinking Indonesian boat with 433 Afghan refugees and four Indonesian crew
on board,

considering that the rescue area falls under Indonesian search-and-rescue jurisdiction, but that the
nearest port was the Australian Territory of Christmas Island and considering that the MS Tampa
was equipped to handle a limited number of people,

considering that the Australian Government refused to give permission to MS Tampa to land at any
Australian territory and considered the matter to be an Indonesia(cid:146)s responsibility,

recalling that, according to the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees, to which Australia is
party, Australia has an international obligation to allow asylum seekers to apply for asylum once in
Australia,

F.

deploring the fact that Indonesia has declared that it shall and will not help,

G.

H.

I.

considering that Australian Special Air Services (SAS) troops boarded the ship and demanded its
return to international waters which the captain refused,

considering, however, that Australian troops provided food, sanitation and medical care for the refu-
gees,

noting that a Melbourne federal court has ruled that the 433 asylum seekers could be transferred onto
an Australian Navy troop ship that would take them to Papua New Guinea by sea and that they would
then be flown to New Zealand and Nauru, where their asylum claims would be assessed,

Deplores the fact that neighbouring States (Indonesia and Australia) did not take immediate steps to

1.
resolve the problem;

2. Welcomes the work of the Australian Search and Rescue Coordination Centre and the prompt reac-
tion of Captain Arne Rinnan to come to the aid of the hundreds of Afghan refugees without hesitation;

3.
Recalls the existence of international conventions on the protection of refugees and asylum pro-
cedures that must be observed by all States, and the need to take into consideration the humanitarian
aspects involved in this kind of dramatic event;

(1)

(cid:145)Texts Adopted(cid:146), Item 11.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 72 E/349

Thursday 6 September 2001

4.
Recalls that Australia in the meantime has negotiated that New Zealand agree to receive 150 of the
refugees on board the Tampa and that Nauru take 283, until their requests for asylum have been pro-
cessed;

5. Welcomes the fact that a solution could be found to break the deadlock over the 433 refugees, which
will enable those deemed to have valid claims to be resettled in neighbouring countries;

6. Welcomes the readiness of New Zealand and Nauru to temporarily accept them on their territories in
order for their asylum claims to be assessed;

Is worried by the growing number of refugees and displaced people world-wide and by increasing

7.
tendencies to resort to inhumane refoulement measures;

Calls on the Taliban regime to facilitate the activities of non-governmental organisations in their

8.
provision of emergency humanitarian and food aid for the Afghan people;

9.
Invites the Council and the Commission to address this issue in the framework of the United Nations
by identifying solutions which may include some form of shared responsibilities between States at regional
and international level;

10.
Calls on the Council and the Commission to take the necessary measures to lay down an obligation
for coastal states in the seas in which such situations arise to assist the stranded and ensure that they are
treated in accordance with the procedures provided for in the International Convention on the Status of
Refugees of 28 July 1951;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the govern-

11.
ments of Australia, Norway, Nauru, New Zealand and Indonesia and the UN Secretary-General.

19. Human rights: Situation in Angola

B5-0544, 0560, 0567, 0576, 0589 and 0598/2001

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Angola

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Angola,

(cid:129) having regard to the statement of the Belgian Presidency on behalf of the European Union in August
2001, the statement of the Swedish Presidency in May 2001 and the statement of the Portuguese
Presidency in January 2000,

A. having regard to the terrorist attack on a passenger train involving mines and rocket launchers and a
machine-gun attack on the fleeing survivors, which left 252 dead and 165 injured and will go down
as one of the most murderous of such attacks in history,

B. whereas Jonas Savimbi(cid:146)s Unita has claimed responsibility for this attack,

C. having regard to the UN Security Council statement on 16 August 2001 condemning the Unita attack

on civilian train passengers,

D. whereas a week later a similar attack was perpetrated on a bus, leaving 50 dead and 12 injured;
whereas a further 29 civilians died and 52 were injured when two more buses were attacked at Gabela
on 2 September 2001,

E. whereas these attacks have been perpetrated in the wake of Unita(cid:146)s murderous attack on Caxito which
claimed 150 lives in April 2001, and the shooting-down in flight of an Angolan aircraft, with
48 passengers on board, in October 2000,