Refugees on the MV Tampa At dawn on 24 August 2001, a 20-metre wooden fishing boat, the Palapa 1, with 438 (369 men, 26 women and 43 children) mainly Hazara from Afghanistan, became stranded in international waters about 140 km north of Christmas Island. On 26 August, Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) Australia, which had been aware of the vessel's … Continue reading On This Day In Australia: In 2001, the Tampa crisis began when a boatload of refugees, mainly from Afghanistan, sent out a distress call