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Behrouz Boochani

Words
New Zealand

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Born in Western Iran, Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights defender, writer, and film producer. He was held in the Australian-run Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea from 2013 until its closure in 2017. No Friend but the Mountains, his memoir, has won several literary awards (including the Victorian Prize), which he wrote via WhatsApp.

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Purification by Love
Purification by Love
Purification by Love “Thinking about love has been a cure to my wounded soul throughout the years that I’ve been in this prison,” says Behrouz Boochani. “To me, love is the only shared language among people of the world—it’s what we all desire and what gives our being a purpose and meaning. And that is what has been taken away from us in Manus and Nauru: We’ve been denied the right to love and to be loved back.”   After being forced to flee the oppressive political situation in Iran, and leave behind his war-weary Kurdish homeland, Boochani was intercepted in Australian waters while seeking asylum by boat in 2013. His first attempt to reach Australia failed and he nearly drowned; he made a second dangerous journey from Indonesia and was picked up by a British tanker after being lost at sea for a week. Passengers were then transferred to the Australian Navy and detained—he has been trapped on Manus Island ever since. While there, he has managed to release an award-winning and critically-acclaimed book, along with nearly one-hundred articles and even a documentary film from the island. Here, Boochani reflects on that which has helped him resist the violence of the prison system—and find freedom within.
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