Sir, - In a recent article in your paper Fintan O'Toole stated that "sometimes, history can seem like current affairs." The saga of the Tampa recalls the voyage of the St Louis, which left Hamburg in 1939 carrying 907 desperate German Jews fleeing Hitler's terror. They had visas to enter Cuba, but on arrival in Havana the Cuban government would not recognise these. Jewish organisations attempted to find safe havens for them in Latin American countries but all doors were closed to them.
The St Louis left Havana with the United States or Canada as its last hope of safety. The US did not respond to its appeal. It sent a gunboat to shadow the St Louis on its way north, making sure to keep it in international waters so that it could not run aground or that its passengers could attempt to swim ashore.
The St Louis appealed to the Canadian Prime Minister and he referred the case to Frederick Charles Blair, the immigration minister. His response was: "No country could open its doors...the line must be drawn somewhere".
The St Louis headed back to Europe where many of its passengers later died in gas chambers.
In the case of the Tampa the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, stated: "We cannot allow a situation to develop where Australia is seen around the globe as a country of easy destination." An Indonesian foreign affairs spokesman, from whose country the ferry carrying the Afghans set out, said he didn't "see any reason to let them in".
What would be the response of Mr Howard and other leaders of the international community if the Tampa's captain had stood by and watched 438 people drown before his eyes?
It would seem that the towers of modern civilisation are becoming rickety again as they put personal ambition and respectability before people's lives. - Yours, etc.,
Bobby Gilmore, SSC, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath.