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Norway attacks Australia over ship

Thorsheim
Norwegian ambassador to Australia Ove Thorsheim on his way to visit the Tampa  


By CNN's Paul Sussman

OSLO, Norway (CNN) -- The case of the estimated 460 asylum-seekers stranded off Christmas Island has aroused both huge interest and strong feelings in Norway, where the freighter they are on is registered.

The story has been front-page news in Norway since it first broke five days ago.

"It is the headline in every paper and on every news broadcast," Harald Saevereid, a foreign correspondent with the daily tabloid Verdens Gang, told CNN. "It is a very big issue."

The Norwegian press coverage has been almost unanimously critical of the stance taken by the Australian government in refusing to allow the freighter Tampa to dock.

On Friday, for instance, Norway's leading broadsheet newspaper, Aftenposten, lead with the headline, "A shame and an embarrassment for Australia."

Another daily paper, Dagbladet, carried the headline, "A week of shame for Australia," while Verdens Gang has carried a series of articles castigating the Australian authorities.

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One, on Friday, likened the Tampa affair to Britain's 1982 Falklands War. Both, it argued, were situations in which an unpopular incumbent prime minister manipulated a situation to boost their domestic popularity.

"There is very much a sense that the Australian government is treating the refugees as hostages in a political game," says Marit Sorhein of the Oslo-based Norwegian Refugee Council.

Norway's political establishment, too, has been sharply critical of Howard's position, with politicians from all sides of the political spectrum uniting in their disapproval of Australia.

Foreign Minister Thorbjorn Jagland, for instance, described Australia's actions as "unacceptable and inhumane."

One union leader has even called for Norwegians to boycott Australian wine until the crisis is resolved.

Interestingly, Norway's far-right anti-immigration parties have, as yet, not tried to make political capital out of the situation.

"The right wing has been surprisingly quiet on the issue," says Sorhein. "We have a general election on September 10, and we were worried they might make it an issue, but that has not happened."

Norwegian public opinion has reflected that of the press and politicians.

"Everyone has been appalled by the way Australia has handled this," says Saevereid. "Especially since it was their coastguards who initiated the whole situation in the first place."

He says that there hasn't been any widespread anti-Australian feeling in Norway -- "We are calmer than that" -- and that the average Norwegian can understand Australian fears about being flooded with immigrants.

At the same time, however, he senses widespread disapproval at the perceived callousness of the Australian government.

"From a humanitarian point of view people are surprised that Australia can act in such a way," he says.

'Share burden'

While the public would seem to be united in their condemnation of the Howard administration, however, opinions vary as to precisely how the situation should be resolved.

"There are many different views," says Sorhein. "Some people think that it is up to Australia to take all the refugees.

"Others think that Norway should participate and help share the burden. The general opinion would seem to be that we should take some of the refugees, but not all of them."

This would seem to be borne out by a phone-in to a current affairs programme on national radio on Friday, in which the majority of callers argued for a sharing of the problem.

"While there are some people who don't want the refugees here at all," says Saevereid, "the general mood would seem to favour a collective effort, with Norway, Australia and perhaps New Zealand and Indonesia all working together."

Some, however, are arguing that if Australia refuses to take them Norway should offer sanctuary to all the asylum-seekers.

"We are a seafaring nation," says Saevereid, "And so we are understanding of the plight of people in distress on the ocean."






RELATED STORIES:
RELATED SITES:
• Norwegian Refugee Council
• Verdens Gang
• Dagbladet
• Aftenposten
• Norwegian Foreign Ministry

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