Iranian Kurdish refugee scoops award for exposing island detentions

An Iranian Kurdish refugee who documented life on islands used by the Australia government as detention camps has been awarded a prestigious prize for investigative journalism.

Behrooz Boochani, 35, published No Friend But The Mountains, a book collecting his experiences and reporting during five years as a refugee within Australia's offshore detention system on Manus island. He wrote the book from detention by sending texts, written in Persian, to a translator. 

The Guardian Australia quoted Boochani as saying that the award would "shame" Australian politicians "who take pride in torturing innocent people".

His work, which has also included writing for Australian media and making Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time, a film about the islands shot on a smartphone, was recognised by the Anna Politkovskaya investigative journalism award on Friday, named after the Russian journalist killed in 2006. 

"At a time when in Italy, as in other European countries, there are politicians looking at Australia as a model for migration control, with this award we ideally connect the battle of Behrouz Boochani and other migrants who have ended up in this cruel political system,"  Italian magazine Internazionale, which awards the prize, said in a statement. 

Boochani regularly uses Twitter to report on living conditions on Manus Island, suicide attempts and the campaigns by the refugees, who mostly tried to reach Australia by boat from around the world, to fight for better rights and healthcare.

Fled Iran

Boochani has been held in Australia offshore detention system since 2013, after he fled Iran when his newspaper was raided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. 

He tried to travel to Australia by boat from Indonesia, but the vessel was intercepted by Australian coastguards, who often send refugees travelling by boat to Manus or Nauru islands. 

"After living on Manus for more than five years, I can't still understand the Australian government's insatiable appetite for torturing innocent and vulnerable people. Just wondering what it takes for this sadism to end," he tweeted last week.  

Australia keeps refugees in a number of offshore detention centres, including on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, where Boochani currently is, and the Micronesian island state of Nauru. 

According to the Refugee Council of Australia, more than 1,500 people are being held on Nauru or in Papua New Guinea. 

Australia defends the policy, arguing it is a way of deterring migrants who try to reach Australia by boat. 

The UN has repeatedly criticised Australia's detention policies, in 2016 saying the living conditions "do immense damage to physical and mental health".