Seven years after his arrival in Australia in 2013, Mr Boochani says he finally feels relief and a sense of security about his future. His refugee status has been formally recognised by New Zealand, and he has been granted a visa to live there. However, although he has his freedom back, Mr Boochani says he cannot fully celebrate knowing “Australia’s policy still exists”.

WHO IS BEHROUZ BOOCHANI?

Mr Boochani is a 37 year old  Kurdish investigative journalist from Iran. He was persecuted for his reporting which promoted Kurdish language and culture, and for his support of Kurdish political independence. Mr. Boochani fled the country after the offices of his Kurdish magazine were raided, and several of his colleagues were arrested and accused of undermining the Iranian state. 

Arriving at Christmas Island (an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean) via boat on 23 July 2013, Mr Boochani was forcibly transferred to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea - Australia’s offshore processing centre. He spent 2,269 days there before being transferred to Port Moresby. Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court later found the detention centre on Manus Island to be illegal. 

While at the detention centre, he drew attention to poor conditions within Australia’s detention camps, where asylum seekers can be held for an indefinite period of time. His experiences were documented on social media, while hidden from the guards, which helped gain international attention. 

HOW DID MR BOOCHANI ESCAPE THE CAMP?

Originally, he was one of the few voices from within the centre, as Australia initially prevented journalists and rights advocates from visiting. 

In 2018, Mr Boochani published a book on his experience on Manus Island titled “No Friend But The Mountains” by sending passages to his publisher via WhatsApp. The success and popularity of his book were recognised when he won Australia’s highest literary prize and other accolades. 

In November 2019, Mr Boochani was invited to speak at a literary festival in New Zealand, for which he was granted a temporary month-long visa. On his trip, he lodged a claim for protection, which prevented Australian authorities from ordering his return to Papua New Guinea. His application for refugee status was approved by New Zealand in July of this year.

TERMINOLOGY

A refugee is a person who has fled their own country because they are at risk of serious human rights violation and persecution there. They face a great risk to their safety and life, that the person feels they have no choice but to leave and seek safety outside their country because their own government cannot or will not protect them from those dangers. Refugees have a right to international protection.  

The United Nations Refugee Agency defines an asylum seeker as someone who has fled their country and is waiting for their request for sanctuary to be processed. As such, his/her legal status as a refugee has not yet been officially recognised. In accordance with Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, seeking asylum is a human right,  meaning everyone is entitled to enter another country to seek asylum. However, it is important to note that this right does not oblige States to grant asylum.  

Immigration detention centres are generally set up by States to hold asylum seekers in custody of immigration control, while their applications are processed. The result will determine whether they have permission to enter, or whether they are deported from the country. 

AUSTRALIA’S DETENTION CENTRES: THE CONTROVERSY 

In response to criticisms that Australia’s hard-line policies on asylum seekers contravene human rights, the Australian government has defended itself on the basis that these policies only apply to asylum seekers arriving illegally by boat, and that this is necessary to deter dangerous attempts to reach the country by sea and to reduce the resulting deaths .

Australia’s detention centres have also faced backlash regarding the treatment of resident asylum seekers, with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor  describing  the detention regime earlier this year as “cruel, inhumane and degrading”.   During Mr. Boochani’s time at the camps, there were a series of violent incidents, including riots in 2014 between guards and refugees. These resulted in injury and the death of an asylum seeker. Over the six years of his detention, Mr Boochani witnessed friends shot, stabbed and murdered by guards on Manus Island, saw some die through medical neglect, and watched others descend into mental anguish and suicide. He himself was twice tortured for several days in the Chauka solitary confinement block of the now-demolished Manus detention centre. He was also jailed for eight days for reporting on a hunger strike in the centre.

In 2017, the Australian government paid compensation to 1,905 men following a legal action that they had suffered harm at the Manus Island detention centre. Despite this, the government denied any wrongdoing.

New Zealand has offered to resettle 150 refugees from Australia’s island detention centres but this proposal was rejected. As of 31 March 2020, there are 1,373 people in detention facilities including 58 women and 1,313 men. 

DETENTION CENTRES: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

In the UK - which is the only country in Europe without a statutory time limit on length of detention -  there have been similar reports of abuse in immigration detention centres. Morton Hall, in Swinderby Lincolnshire, has been criticised for its “jail-like condition”. It was recently announced that the centre is to close and revert to a prison next year. 

In light of COVID-19, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently stressed the urgent need for States to end the “unlawful” and “arbitrary” detention of refugees and asylum seekers. Examples of such detention practices include: immediately detaining asylum seekers upon their arrival, detaining them in great numbers, detaining them for long or arbitrary periods of time, or without access to due process, subjecting them to overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions where social distancing cannot take place, or not providing adequate access to healthcare and clean water.  The UNHCR has called for the release of refugees and asylum seekers, calling on States to ensure that their fight against COVID-19 is based on human rights and in line with international law

Ploy is currently a paralegal in London. She has an LLB from Swansea University and an LLM LPC from BPP University in Cambridge. She is interested in promoting human rights injustices and bringing them into the public domain, with a particular focus on children due to their vulnerable status. 

LinkedIn