Afghanistan’s reality revealed

After the Tampa by Abbas Nazari, Allen & Unwin, $36.99

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It’s rather timely that we get to read a first person account of life in Afghanistan, with the Americans heading home, and the Taliban flexing their muscles and taking back most of this war torn country. After the Tampa takes us to the heart of Afghanistan’s reality. Abbas Nazari’s story is heart wrenching as he escaped from the Taliban while he was still a child, spent time adrift at sea in a sinking boat and was rescued from certain death by the crew of the Tampa. His fate was then an International news story when Australia refused entry but he found a home in New Zealand, eventually succeeded as a Fulbright scholar.

Abbas Nasari’s journey began in 2001 when the Taliban were at the height of their power.

His parents were faced with a choice of risking persecution in Afghanistan or to seek a safer and more secure life for their children elsewhere. Their search for safety took them through the mountains to a small fishing boat in the Indian Ocean. Their dreams seem shattered when Australia closed its doors to asylum seekers like the Nasari’s. The destination of their comrades on board the Tampa turned out to be the notorious internment location on Nauru Island. Luck, however , was on Abbas Nagari’s family as they were chosen to resettle in New Zealand.

Twenty years after his experience as a young child on the Tampa, Abbas now tells us his story of a new life. —