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| Former child detainee held in Nauru to tell UN that Australia must shut down detention camps Former child detainee held in Nauru to tell UN that Australia must shut down detention camps | |
| (4 months later) | |
| A 25-year-old former detainee at the Nauru detention centre will tell the UN human rights council in Geneva on Thursday that Australian-run camps must be shut down. | A 25-year-old former detainee at the Nauru detention centre will tell the UN human rights council in Geneva on Thursday that Australian-run camps must be shut down. |
| The address by Mohammad Ali Baqiri comes as the former Liberal immigration minister and Australia’s special envoy for human rights, Philip Ruddock, is lobbying for Canberra to have a seat on the council for the 2018-2020 term. | The address by Mohammad Ali Baqiri comes as the former Liberal immigration minister and Australia’s special envoy for human rights, Philip Ruddock, is lobbying for Canberra to have a seat on the council for the 2018-2020 term. |
| Baqiri, who was detained on Nauru in 2001 when he was 10 years old after fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan with his brother by boat, remembers Ruddock visiting the detention centre when he was the immigration minister. | Baqiri, who was detained on Nauru in 2001 when he was 10 years old after fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan with his brother by boat, remembers Ruddock visiting the detention centre when he was the immigration minister. |
| “His message to us at that time was clear,” Baqiri says. “‘You guys came through the window, not the door’. | “His message to us at that time was clear,” Baqiri says. “‘You guys came through the window, not the door’. |
| “But as he [Ruddock] is the one who was appointed to push for Australia to become a member of the council, he is the one we have to work together with to bring about change and bring the detention of people, especially children, to an end.” | “But as he [Ruddock] is the one who was appointed to push for Australia to become a member of the council, he is the one we have to work together with to bring about change and bring the detention of people, especially children, to an end.” |
| Baqiri says it would be difficult for the world to believe Australia deserves a seat on the council while people are being detained on offshore processing centres including Manus Island and Nauru. | Baqiri says it would be difficult for the world to believe Australia deserves a seat on the council while people are being detained on offshore processing centres including Manus Island and Nauru. |
| As a 10-year-old, Baqiri says he witnessed asylum seekers sewing their lips together as part of a hunger strike in protest against their treatment and detention. This also occurred in 2014, when asylum seekers, including children, stitched their lips shut in protest. | As a 10-year-old, Baqiri says he witnessed asylum seekers sewing their lips together as part of a hunger strike in protest against their treatment and detention. This also occurred in 2014, when asylum seekers, including children, stitched their lips shut in protest. |
| “The detention centre on the island of Nauru is so small, I remember when we flew there after being detained in Indonesia I was sitting in the window seat and I thought to myself: ‘How is this plane going to land?’ | “The detention centre on the island of Nauru is so small, I remember when we flew there after being detained in Indonesia I was sitting in the window seat and I thought to myself: ‘How is this plane going to land?’ |
| “We were living in army tents with a lack of facilities, hardly any medical assistance and we used to see fellow detainees fighting with each other. | “We were living in army tents with a lack of facilities, hardly any medical assistance and we used to see fellow detainees fighting with each other. |
| “Australia tried to bribe people to go back to Afghanistan, paying $2000 to single men and $10,000 for families to return back voluntarily, and a lot of people went back to protect the families they left behind. Of those I know who went back, more than 20 were killed after returning. I know many others who are now in Indonesia waiting to come to Australia because, after returning to Afghanistan, they were in so much danger that they fled a second time.” | “Australia tried to bribe people to go back to Afghanistan, paying $2000 to single men and $10,000 for families to return back voluntarily, and a lot of people went back to protect the families they left behind. Of those I know who went back, more than 20 were killed after returning. I know many others who are now in Indonesia waiting to come to Australia because, after returning to Afghanistan, they were in so much danger that they fled a second time.” |
| Baqiri considers himself lucky. After nearly three years spent in Nauru, revelations about detainees hunger-striking broke in the mainstream media, prompting human rights and advocacy groups to lobby for the release of children like Baqiri. He and his brother now live in Victoria and Baqiri has just completed a double degree in business and law at Victoria University. He hopes to train to become an immigration lawyer and help those seeking asylum. | Baqiri considers himself lucky. After nearly three years spent in Nauru, revelations about detainees hunger-striking broke in the mainstream media, prompting human rights and advocacy groups to lobby for the release of children like Baqiri. He and his brother now live in Victoria and Baqiri has just completed a double degree in business and law at Victoria University. He hopes to train to become an immigration lawyer and help those seeking asylum. |
| “We had no choice but to flee Afghanistan and leave our parents, who were too old to make the journey by boat themselves, behind,” he says. “So many others like us still need help. After I sponsored my parents to come to Australia I did ask them, ‘How could you send me on that journey? It was so risky’. | “We had no choice but to flee Afghanistan and leave our parents, who were too old to make the journey by boat themselves, behind,” he says. “So many others like us still need help. After I sponsored my parents to come to Australia I did ask them, ‘How could you send me on that journey? It was so risky’. |
| “They had tears coming from their eyes and said they had no choice, and of course I know that is true and that they only wanted what was best for us. We were being persecuted by the Taliban because of our religion and I know of many people like us who have been killed.” | “They had tears coming from their eyes and said they had no choice, and of course I know that is true and that they only wanted what was best for us. We were being persecuted by the Taliban because of our religion and I know of many people like us who have been killed.” |
| Baqiri will also speak at a side event in Geneva on Tuesday, focusing on Australia’s treatment of women and children seeking asylum. He has been sent there by ChilOut, a not-for-profit community organisation seeking to end the arbitrary and prolonged detention of children who come to Australia seeking asylum. | Baqiri will also speak at a side event in Geneva on Tuesday, focusing on Australia’s treatment of women and children seeking asylum. He has been sent there by ChilOut, a not-for-profit community organisation seeking to end the arbitrary and prolonged detention of children who come to Australia seeking asylum. |
| “My aim is to tell the human rights council to shut Nauru and Manus Island detention centres, as well as detention centres around Australia, and also to release women and children as soon as possible,” he says. | “My aim is to tell the human rights council to shut Nauru and Manus Island detention centres, as well as detention centres around Australia, and also to release women and children as soon as possible,” he says. |
| “I feel so honoured that I have been chosen to represent those seeking asylum and in detention in this way and to deliver that message to the world.” | “I feel so honoured that I have been chosen to represent those seeking asylum and in detention in this way and to deliver that message to the world.” |