On August 26, 2001, 433 asylum seekers were rescued by a Norwegian vessel, the MV Tampa, on their way to Australia. When the Tampa attempted to enter Australian waters in order to drop off the asylum seekers, it was boarded by the SAS and prevented from doing so.

This marked the beginning of the Coalition government’s “Pacific Solution”. Since then, thousands of asylum seekers have been diverted to immigration prison camps outside Australian soil, where they have no access to Australian law.

Two years after the “Tampa Affair”, Green Left Weekly asked a range of refugees’ rights activists to contribute their thoughts on the last two years and the fight for refugees’ rights. We also reprint the recollections of Juma Khan Nazari, who was rescued by the Tampa.

From Green Left Weekly, August 27, 2003.
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