Behrouz Boojani gets asylum in New Zealand

WELLINGTON (AP) — After years of enforced detention on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean, Kurdish-Iranian journalist and writer Behrouz Bojani has been granted asylum in New Zealand. The rights activist received the news from the government on Thursday, his 37th birthday.

“I’m very happy that I’m finally getting some certainty about my future,” Bojani told the Guardian. “I finally feel relieved and safe.”

Due to political persecution and after the arrest of several fellow journalists of Werya literary magazine, he fled to Indonesia in 2013 and from there attempted to reach Australia by ship. However, the boat Boochani was on was intercepted by an Australian warship.

Bokanye was then held in immigration detention on an island in northern Papua New Guinea for six years. From there he was able to send information and photos to the media and draw attention to the devastating conditions. He also wrote poems and the award-winning book No Friend But the Mountains about his time on Manus Island. “Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time” is based on Boochani’s smartphone recordings from the detention centre. After six years, he was finally able to travel to New Zealand at the end of 2019.

“Today we celebrate New Zealand as a place of justice and mercy,” said the country’s Green Party. “People fleeing torture and persecution because of their religion, ethnicity and political activism deserve a place to call home,” said Human Rights and Migration Spokesperson Gulriz Kahraman.