A prisoner wrote a book about Whatsapp and won a literary prize

February 7, 2019

The journalist escaped from his country because he was persecuted. Upon his arrival in Australia, he applied for asylum and was transferred to a detention center in Papua New Guinea. In prison, he wrote a book and received a prize.

Behrouz Boochani, is an Iranian Kurdish journalist who escaped from his countrywhere he was persecuted and asked for asylum in Australia. However, He was transferred to a detention center in Papua New Guinea.

The journalist wrote the WhatsApp book to prevent the text from being intercepted by the guards. The text begins: "Where do I come from? From the land of rivers, the country of waterfalls, the land of ancient songs, the land of mountains ".

The book is called "Any friend, except the mountains: written from the prison of Manus" (No more friends than the mountain: written from Manus prison), received the first literary award from the Victorian. Boochani writes for The Guardian and received $ 72,000 for this distinction.

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In the book tells of his life during the years of exile, he lived in a prison in Papua-Guinea. This place was closed in 2017, but it is still in this country because it does not have permission to enter Australia, where he had originally requested asylum.

The reporter told the BBC: "I did not want to be in prison in Iran, so I left and when I arrived in Australia, they put me in jail for years."

Australia applies a very strict policy to enter without a visa, in a boat and ask for asylum. For this reason, persons arriving in this manner may be returned to their place of origin or may be detained and sent to detention centers in Nauru or Papua New Guinea. The latter was what happened to Boochani.

"When I arrived on Christmas Island six years ago, an immigration officer told me that I was going to exile on the island of Manus, a place in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I told him that I was a writer.This same person mocked me and ordered the guards to exile me to Manus, "said the author. The laureate has obtained refugee status but does not want to stay there.

In 2016, Australia and the United States signed an agreement providing for the transfer of some 1,250 refugees held by Australia in various detention centers located in Pacific islands.

The translation and compilation of the texts was entrusted to Omid Tofighian. In the interview, he said: "I did not write it on paper because, at that time, the guards entered our rooms, every week or every month, to requisition our property. I was afraid of losing my writing, so it was better for me to write and send it. "

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To participate in the Victorian Literature Award, writers must be Australian citizens or permanent residents of that country. However, the Wheeler Center,The body that manages the literary awards decided to make an exception in this case and accepted the postulation of Boochani's book.

"I have been in a cage for years and during that time, my mind has always produced words, and these words have made me cross borders, they have taken me elsewhere, to places unknown. I really believe that words are more powerful than the barriers of this place, of this prison", Concluded at the moment he received the award.