Behrouz Boochani

is an associate professor at UNSW Sydney.

By this author


News September 07, 2019

The truth about self-harm in offshore detention

Peter Dutton’s claims that medevac laws have resulted in a dramatic increase in self-harm on Manus and Nauru only highlight the government’s insensitivity and ignorance when dealing with asylum seekers.

News April 27, 2019

Medivac missteps rack sick refugees

Refugees on Manus and Nauru were given hope by the passing of the medivac bill, but the reality is just another layer of bureaucracy added to their lives.

Life November 24, 2018

This human being

In a recent profile in The Saturday Paper, photographer Hoda Afshar spoke about her collaboration with journalist Behrouz Boochani, who is on Manus Island. Here, he describes the creation of an image that stands on the threshold of civilisation and barbarism.

News September 29, 2018

Five years in Manus purgatory

The passing of the fifth anniversary of offshore detention on Manus has seen those incarcerated on the island sink further into mental despair and physical surrender.

Comment August 11, 2018

Manus prison theory

“The soul of Manus prison and the system that created and governs Manus prison is in the process of replicating itself throughout Australian society, reproducing itself in unlimited numbers. This is the merciless system that takes humans as captives and …”

Life June 16, 2018

Manus Island poem

Detained on Manus Island for five years, journalist Behrouz Boochani has recorded the experience in film, essays and poetry.

Comment March 03, 2018

Policy of exile

“Anti-Australian sentiment grows among Manusians, as they believe Australia exploits their tiny island with a colonial mentality that never retreated. People in the forest villages beside Hillside and West Haus are kind towards refugees, but they have …”

News December 09, 2017

A letter from Manus Island

After four years of detention on Manus Island, the author writes a poet’s manifesto for the refugee resistance in which he has found himself to be a central figure.

News July 29, 2017

Rising tension on Manus Island

As the Manus Island detention centre is closed, refugees are under mounting pressure to resettle in an area of PNG where they are unsafe and unwanted.

Life May 06, 2017

An island off Manus

On a tiny island off the coast of Manus, a local family offers asylum seekers kindness and some respite from their ordeal.

Comment May 28, 2016

Damned lies, News Corp and Manus Island refugees

“We are the victims of this policy; and for three years, we have been taken as hostages in an official and exiled approach.”

News April 16, 2016

Manus Island’s appalling health care record

Manus Island claims to have a properly equipped hospital, but for detainees requiring more than just a painkiller, the facilities are grossly inadequate.

Comment February 27, 2016

Life on Manus: island of the damned

“Everyone, in his mind, traces a course of the history of the hellish life on this island, from before the riot in February, a period prisoners call ‘The Great Famine’, to the murder of Reza Barati.”