Refugee in bid for Parliament
Auckland-based human rights lawyer Golriz Ghahraman is aiming to be the first refugee to become a New Zealand MP.
The former United Nations prosecutor and Oxford University graduate will stand on the Greens list and is eyeing the seat in Auckland’s Kelston, where she grew up.
Originally from the Shia holy city of Mashhad in north-eastern Iran, near the Afghanistan border, her family fled in 1990 when she was aged 9, having experienced the extreme repression in the country – aimed mostly at women and minorities.
They headed to Malaysia and, from there, bought tickets to Fiji that did not require a visa. That flight included a stopover in Auckland, where relatives had previously won asylum.
Once here, they sought and were granted asylum as political refugees and made welcome.
‘‘It was amazing. They were much more concerned if we had fruit products on us. The next question was ‘are you hungry and do you have somewhere to go?’ ’’
Her father was Shia and an agricultural engineer; her mother was a Kurdish Sunni child psychologist, although she never worked because she refused to take the required Islamic exams. Both are now retired.
They set up a restaurant and a gift shop on Mt Eden Rd but never worked in their areas of expertise.
Neither parent was religious and Ghahraman, 35, described herself as ‘‘agnostic – some days I would say atheist’’ but with an understanding of the culture and religions she grew up with.
She went to ‘‘super-diverse’’ Auckland Girls’ Grammar and Auckland University, where she studied history and law. Ghahraman said she did not suffer any racial prejudice and only felt vulnerable because her family was suddenly poor.
After graduating, she worked as a prosecutor for the United Nations in Cambodia and in tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia before returning in 2012. She now represents family caring for profoundly disabled relatives.
‘‘My experience as a child asylum-seeker has instilled in me a deep commitment to defending democratic institutions and the most vulnerable members of our community,’’ she said in a statement announcing her candidacy.
‘‘Alarming developments’’ in politics overseas – such as the election of Donald Trump as United States president and the Brexit referendum in Britain – made it even more important for minority voices to be heard.
Standing was ‘‘an affirmation of New Zealand as a place where a 9-year-old refugee escaping persecution and war in the Middle East can one day enter Parliament’’.
Ghahraman has previously been active in the Greens but this will be the first time she has stood for Parliament.