Aussies support Prime Mimister's refugee stance

CHRISTMAS ISLAND, Australia -- For nine days, Prime Minister John Howard faced a barrage of international criticism for refusing to let a boatload of refugees enter Australia. But opinion polls Tuesday showed Australians overwhelmingly supported his hard-line stance. \nAs a warship carrying the 433 refugees steamed away, the four Indonesians accused of trying to sneak them into Australia were arraigned Monday night on charges of people-smuggling. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. They were ordered held in Perth. \nDuring the standoff, Howard ordered 50 commandos to take control of the Norwegian cargo ship the Tampa when it defied an order banning it from entering Australian waters off remote Christmas Island with the refugees, most of them from Afghanistan. \nThe refugees were transferred Monday to the naval troop carrier HMAS Manoora, which began a weeklong voyage to Papua New Guinea. From there, the refugees will be flown to New Zealand and the tiny Pacific republic of Nauru where their asylum applications will be processed. \nA national A.C. Nielsen poll of 2,058 voters found 77 percent agreed with Howard's firm policy and 74 percent approved of how he handled the affair. Howard has said he wanted to send a message that Australia is not an easy destination for smugglers. \n"Support for the policy is across the board, it is supporters of all the parties, supporters in all the age groups," said John Stirton, Nielsen's chief pollster. \nA Newspoll of 1,148 voters found 50 percent supported turning back all boats and 38 percent some boats. Only 9 percent thought all should be allowed in. \nHoward's approval rating jumped 10 points, the biggest increase since he introduced tough gun control laws after a shooting massacre in 1996. \nNeither poll published a margin of error. \nThe prime minister, whose conservative government faces a general election before year's end, welcomed the support, but denied he had pandered to public sentiment. "I did not do this for poll reasons, I did it because I thought it was right," he said. \nBut criticism kept coming from overseas about the Australian plan to send the refugees to New Zealand and Nauru. \nAustralia's refusal to take in the refugees, who were stranded for days on the deck of the Norwegian container ship without food or medical care, set a troubling precedent, critics said. \n"We are concerned and we have expressed our concern almost ad nauseam for the past week," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond. "UNHCR would have preferred another solution to this. Our option would have been first to put them ashore on Christmas Island, at least temporarily." \nRedmond said Australia's stand may discourage other ships from rescuing refugees and said Howard's refusal to accept the refugees sent a poor message to impoverished nations closer to conflict zones which are forced to take in hundreds of thousands of refugees. \nIn Melbourne, a federal court challenge to the legality of Australia's decision to turn away the migrants continued Tuesday. \nThe challenge, by civil rights lawyers, is expected to last at least two days. If the court rules that the government acted illegally in turning away the boat people, they will be brought to Australia to have their asylum applications processed. \nThe government has said it would appeal such a decision. \nGovernment lawyer David Bennett told the court Australia has the right to protect its borders and said the refugees brought their problems on themselves by ordering the Norwegian ship's captain to sail to Australia.