SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: The ship captain who rescued hundreds of mostly Afghan refugees at sea says he is disappointed at Australia's handling of the crisis. The refugees have been stranded for 11 days on the Norwegian ship Tampa in waters off Australia, after Canberra refused them entry. Now, after a processing stop in Papua/New Guinea, they head to New Zealand and the Pacific island nation of Nauru, where they will be granted asylum. And, as TVNZ Bryan Seymour reports, New Zealand is ready to receive 150 new residences.</s>BRYAN SEYMOUR, TVNZ CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Today it was empty, the Mangru (ph) refugee center is gearing up to process 150 asylum seekers from the freight of Tampa. Before then, another 125 refugees are due to arrive here this week, most from Pakistan.</s>HELEN CLARK, NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: What we are going to do is take the planned arrivals, which are coming through the U.N. High Commission for Refugees to the</s>SEYMOUR: Of the 458 stranded on board the Tampa, it's expected 45 women, two of them pregnant, 22 children and around 80 men will come here. (on camera): It may not have been their first choice, but the refugees do not realize how lucky they are. This is the only refugee center in the world designed to meet all their needs under the one roof as soon as arrive. (voice-over): Meanwhile, members of the Auckland Refugee Council met today to discuss what they can do to help.</s>WILLIAM SMITH, AUCKLAND REFUGEE COUNCIL: Well, the obvious one is language, and the other one is possibly medical needs.</s>SEYMOUR: After two weeks of medical checks, the refugees will have up to four weeks of classes in English, Mauri culture and how to get by in New Zealand, as their status is assessed. From Television New Zealand, I'm Bryan Seymour for the CNN WORLD REPORT.
Afghan Refugees Find Asylum in New Zealand