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Australian police stand by as residents of Christmas Island protest the Australian government’s closing of the island’s only port.
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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has condemned Australia over its handling of the Tampa refugees.
New Zealand and the Pacific island of Nauru have agreed to take the 400 refugees, at least temporarily, for processing. They have been stranded at sea for almost a week.
Mr Annan says the plan is less than ideal. "It's not an ideal situation and I feel for the refugees who are on this ship, in the heat, in containers," he said in Durban, South Africa.
"Even though some efforts have been made to improve their situation and give them some minimum comfort, this is not a way to handle a refugee situation."
He and the UN refugee agency in Geneva again emphasised that they consider Christmas Island the "most logical" place for the refugees to temporarily disembark.
"We urge that any actions ... be humane," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.
Major details, including how the stranded migrants will be taken off the ship and transported to New Zealand and Nauru, have not been worked out.
Meanwhile, the ship has been ordered to remain in Australian waters while a case brought on the refugees' behalf goes to trial tomorrow.
Norway's ambassador to Australia has forwarded the stranded migrants' applications for asylum, Norwegian foreign ministry spokesman Mr Karsten Klepsvik says.
PA