Australia asked the Norwegian ship to help

Rescued from a sinking Indonesian ferry by a Norwegian cargo ship responding to an Australian request to help them, it is by no means certain who now bears responsibility.

Australia says it is up to Indonesia and Norway.

Indonesia says it cannot and will not help, and Norway insists it is Australia that offers the nearest port and also carries an obligation to help them.

Even United Nations officials admit international law on the subject is ambiguous.

It is Australia, however, that is the asylum seekers' preferred destination and it is Australia that is under the most international pressure.

Precedent feared

But times have changed since the Australians welcomed thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodian boat people in the 1970s and 80s.

Many countries fear setting a precedent for asylum seekers.

And Afghans make up one of the largest refugee populations in the world, desperate after decades of war and one of the worst droughts in living memory.

Millions have already fled the oppressive regime of the ruling Taleban.

But increasingly, the rest of the world is reluctant to receive them.