Singapore has denied entry to a Vietnamese-registered cargo ship carrying 40 Burmese asylum seekers who were plucked from the sea after their boat sank in the Bay of Bengal.
n an incident similar to the 2001 Tampa affair, where Australia refused entry to Afghan asylum seekers, Singapore said it had blocked the ship because ''those aboard do not appear to be persons eligible to enter Singapore''.
The asylum seekers are believed to have been in the water for 30 hours before the ship Nosco Victory rescued them on December 5, meaning they would have been in a distressed state. Full story
Related:
- Singapore turns away rescued boat people - The Sydney Morning Herald
- Singapore Rejects Vessel That Saved 40 Boatpeople From Drowning - Phuketwan.com
