Author not seeking asylum – for now
An Iranian-Kurdish journalist who wrote an award-winning book on a smartphone while detained by Australia says a permanent move to New Zealand may be a ‘‘possibility’’ in the future.
Behrouz Boochani, who became the voice of those incarcerated on the infamous Manus Island, arrived in Christchurch yesterday morning.
Travelling to New Zealand was the first time he had been able to leave Papua New Guinea since being detained by the Australian Government six years ago.
After landing on a flight from Auckland, Boochani said he was savouring life as a ‘‘free man’’ and, though he was not seeking asylum in New Zealand for now, he would ‘‘look at the possibility’’.
‘‘For years, I have been going through this long process . . . with someone like Trump, it was so hard. So now, I have been accepted [to live in] America, finally. I want to be free for a while so I don’t want to be part of any [application] process.’’
Boochani was recently accepted for resettlement in the United States. He planned to extend his New Zealand visa for another month to attend more speaking events, and will be a special guest at literary festival Word Christchurch on November 29.
An investigative journalist in his homeland of Iran, he was persecuted for his reporting and his support for Kurdish independence, and fled for Australia in 2013. The boat he was on was one of two found by authorities after being lost at sea for a week. He was arrested and taken to the Manus Island Processing Centre.
Boochani slammed Australia’s ‘‘barbaric policies’’ and said it was time the New Zealand government ‘‘take real action and do something’’ to help the remaining imprisoned refugees.
Australia’s ‘‘turn back the boats’’ policy means asylum seekers are barred from entering the country.
Since 2013, New Zealand has offered to accept 150 refugees each year from Australia’s offshore processing centres. The Manus Island centre was closed in late 2017, but about 250 of the 1500 detainees remain in Papua New Guinea.
Boochani is able to travel to New Zealand because of help from UN refugee agency UNHCR. It also helped him get a visa, sponsored by Amnesty International.
Green MP and human rights spokeswoman Golriz Ghahraman said claiming asylum was a fundamental right.