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BLAME GAME: UNHCR weeps crocodile tears over Sawari's welfare while Khaiyum claims he deported the Iranian asylum seeker on the advice of UNHCR. PNG has charged Sawari with falsifying passport documents

4/2/2017

12 Comments

 

"Loghman Sawari arrived in Fiji with a genuine passport which was fraudulently obtained in Papua New Guinea" - Yogesh Karan, PS for the Office of the Prime Minister, Sugar Industry and Immigration

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Sawari at PNG airport. He was later charged
and is being held in a police cell to await court appearance
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The police lock-up where Sawari was taken
after attempting suicide previously

Fijileaks: UNHCR should hang its head in shame for being complicit in the deportation of Sawari without the due process of the law. Once Sawari had accused PNG of maltreating him, his personal safety should have been of prime consideration before any decision was made to deport him. Sawari's lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh said the sudden arrest and deportation of an asylum seeker [Sawari] – without first assessing his claim for protection in Fiji – was an act of thuggery and work of hoodlums; he accused Khaiyum of being behind the deportation
Fijileaks: Australia pays PNG millions of dollars for the Manus Island Detention Centre to act like the SS Nazi Guards. In fact, Sawari was once beaten up by an PNG detention guard, ending up in hospital. His crime: he wanted an extra cake of washing powder. Just imagine if FLP leader Mahendra Chaudhry, after receiving $2million from Haryana, had agreed to relocate to Australia following the George Speight Coup (money one Harbhajan Lal claimed was for relocation to Australia) and the Australians had decided to send the Chaudhry family to Manus Island Detention Centre to process their refugee status. Sadly, Mahendra Chaudhry has been the most outspoken, calling for Sawari's arrest, and was satisfied that Sawari was arrested and deported to PNG, claiming Sawari could be a risk to Fiji's national security. The NFP and SODELPA were also parroting the national security chant. We are not suggesting that Sawari should have been granted asylum in Fiji. We are arguing that he should have been put through Fiji's immigration and judicial system

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Loghman Sawari at Jacksons International Airport, Port Moresby, 3 February 2017

Loghman Sawari is the first refugee who had managed to get the hell out of Australia’s gulag on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. He had been locked up there as a child with adult asylum seekers.
"His [Sawari's] is a story that has all the elements of a film script: young man sent to tropical prison for fleeing his homeland [Iran]; recognised as a refugee; takes the chance and gets released. He can only go to Papua New Guinea, gets beaten up, goes to jail in one of the roughest countries on earth. The misery of his situation forces him to attempt suicide. He gets released and ends up back in detention. Then he once again agrees to be resettled in PNG. He manages to get himself to Port Moresby and on a flight out of there
[to FIJI] by lying about his identity."

Tasmanian Times, 31 January 2017

Ironically, Sawari was deported back to PNG by Fiji's Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum who himself
LIED on his visa application form
in a bid to try and sneak into the United States
Fijileaks: In one of the most revolting display of bigotry and political point scoring, all major political parties and their surrogates descended on Sawari like vile vultures, totally ignoring his long years of detention, beatings, and denial of basic human rights to someone who fled Iran, only to be locked up by Australia in its gulag on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. He was called all sorts of names including that he was a bloody Muslim Terrorist. The only person who displayed humanity was a native Fijian mother who took him in, informing the world:
"I took him in like he was my own son. I felt sorry for him when I saw him, he was so small. Then he told me that he was from Papua New Guinea, didn't have any family and was here for four months. My heart went out to him and I told him this is your home. You can call me nene and these are your brothers and sisters. He spoke in broken English, ate what we ate and was easy to live with."
Mrs Rauge Naikeli,  Namotomoto Village, Nadi

Sawari might be jailed in PNG (again) but his spirit and cry for freedom and flight should be a poignant reminder to the bigots in Fiji and abroad that Exile is a song that only the singer can hear but Cry Freedom is a universal song that the world can and must share. As the late Nelson Mandela put it in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom: "I was not born with a hunger to be free - I was born free." Like Sawari, even Mandela had secretly fled South Africa before he was captured and imprisoned for 27 years. Unlike Khaiyum and others, Sawari does not have IMMUNITY.
UNHCR should hang its head in shame for being complicit in the deportation of Sawari without the due process of the law

A former Manus Island refugee who had intended to seek asylum in Fiji has been charged with falsifying passport documents after being deported and returned to Papua New Guinea, police say.

Key points:
  • Sawari is charged with falsifying passport documents, which can carry a jail term
  • He is being held in police cells in the capital Port Moresby and will face court Monday
  • UNHCR says it is "gravely concerned by the forced return" of Sawari



Iranian refugee Loghman Sawari was detained by Fijian immigration officials on Friday morning while travelling with his lawyer to meet the country's immigration director to discuss his asylum claim, which had not yet been lodged.

The 21-year-old refugee was placed on a flight to Papua New Guinea, where he was questioned for several hours by immigration officials at Jacksons International Airport in Port Moresby.

The deportation has been criticised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Fiji's own Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Commission, which said the country had breached international human rights law.

Airport Police Station Commander Jerry Yawa told the ABC Sawari was charged with falsifying passport documents under the country's Passports Act, and was transferred to the cells at Waigani police station in Port Moresby.

Under the legislation, making false or misleading statements in order to obtain an identity document is punishable by an up to K10,000 fine ($4,102), and can include a prison term of up to six months.
Mr Yawa said Sawari had been given the opportunity to contact a local lawyer, and is expected to face court on Monday.

Port Moresby's Metropolitan Superintendant Ben Turi confirmed the information, and said more details would be made available next week.

Sawari's Fijian lawyer, Aman Ravindra Singh, said he was concerned for his client.

"I am in complete shock and devastated for Loghman Sawari at what has taken place after his illegal and forceful deportation from Fiji, I'm absolutely shocked," he said.

"The fault absolutely falls on the Fijian Government."

UNHCR 'profoundly concerned' for Sawari's welfare

In a statement released on Friday afternoon,

Fiji's attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum said the decision to deport Sawari was made due to his failure to lodge an asylum application upon arrival in Fiji.

Sawari had been in the country for 10 days prior to his expulsion.

Mr Khaiyum said the Government was advised by the UNHCR that Sawari was "not recognised as a refugee under the UNHCR mandate", and that this was a factor in its decision.

However, the UNHCR said it was "profoundly concerned" for Sawari's welfare following his deportation, and that it had "sought assurances" from Fijian authorities that he would have access to asylum procedures.

"UNHCR deeply regrets that interventions to prevent Mr Sawari's forced return were not successful," it said in a statement.

"UNHCR has long called for refugees and asylum-seekers currently in Papua New Guinea to be moved to humane conditions outside of the country. Equally, UNHCR has urged that no refugees or asylum-seekers should be returned there."

Sawari, who had been living in the city of Lae in Papua New Guinea prior to travelling to Fiji, was one of the first Manus Island refugees to move onto the country's mainland for work.

In March last year, the ABC reported that he had left his building apprenticeship in the city and had been taken in by a church after becoming homeless.

Mr Khaiyum said Sawari had "flagrantly [violated] the law" by entering Fiji with false documents, adding the country remains fully committed to international refugee law. Source: ABC News, Australia

Picture
Refugee Loghman Sawari, 20, pictured in Lae, PNG, with all his possessions
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Sawari's lawyer Aman Ravindra Singh with Sawari's luggage. Aiyaz Khaiyum didn't allow Sawari to take his luggage back
Picture
Picture

Sawari is an Ahwazi Arab, an ethnic minority in Iran that faces significant, often violent, political persecution at the hands of the Iranian state, as well as discrimination over employment, language, housing and civil rights. [Khaiyum and FijiFirst remind us everyday that Fiji is now practising equal citizenry and non-discrimination]. Ahwazi Arabs in Iran are routinely hanged. Sawari fled Iran at his mother’s urging after his two brothers were imprisoned and tortured by the country’s theocratic regime and a cousin was publicly hanged for his opposition to the government. Sawari carries a picture with him of his defiant relative kissing the hangman’s rope as it is fastened around his neck

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MASS HANGING of Sawari's co-religionists

Ahwaz is the most polluted place on Earth, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).  Ahwaz City's measure of air-born particulate matter (PM10) is 372 ug/m3, which is a third more than the world's second-most polluted city, Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar and the only city in the world where average PM10 levels rise above 300 ug/m3. Pollution from local petroleum industries and post-harvest fires in the arid fields are the primary culprits behind the high atmospheric levels of nitrate in the area. Pollution is inextricably bound up with the persecution of Ahwazi Arabs and the pillaging of their homeland as the oil and petrochemicals industries pump toxins into the air and rivers and fresh water is diverted from Ahwazi farmlands.

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12 Comments
Nah Bai Nah
4/2/2017 08:58:31 pm

Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum you are a compulsive liar. No clear thinking person anywhere believes you . You lied not only in your Visa application to the US, you have been lying left right and centre about everything since you joined the Bainimarama coup in 2006 to save your arse from bankruptcy . Crooked, lying Khaiyum claims,
" ... The country remains fully committed to international refugee law " That's a lie. It's paying lip service. One wonders about the country's commitment to domestic rule of law when murder minister Praveen Bala got away scott free after killing a man with drink and dangerous driving...to cite but one case...

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Rajend Naidu
4/2/2017 09:28:07 pm

Allow me to share this big picture response to the refugee predicament in our region :
New York Times Opinion : Bring the refugees to Australia ...
For Australia, Trump's insults should be an incentive to do the right thing. The refugee deal now looks worthless. Shut down the foul Manus and Nauru operations. Bring these people, who have suffered and been bounced around enough, to Australia . Close this chapter that recalls the darkest moments of Australian history... ( picked up from Tasmanian Times 3/2/17 ).
International refugee monitoring groups including the UN and AI and national refugee advocates have made the same point to the Australian State authorities many many times but the Australian political ruling elites have not paid heed .
The Australian off shore gulags remain Australia's shame.

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Chiku
4/2/2017 11:45:57 pm

When Chor Chaudhry talks about arresting and deporting the persecuted Iranian refugee Sawari he speaks more like a Muslim hating RSS Hindu fascist than the leader of a progressive Labour Party.
This man's a disgrace.

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Refugee
5/2/2017 10:50:39 am

Yes, Chaudhary's views on Refugee Sawari are just so insensitive, repulive and appallingly. How can any Human being, let alone a Leader of Labour Party hold such a...a... jungli inhumane convictions?

And from one who has been a victim, not once but twice, of blatant bigotry and RACISM himself. This shows that Chaudhary is only about Chaudhary. And now, he is busy arse-licking the RACISTS like Rabuka for a Coalition.

We all remember that Chaudhary despite raking in $Millions of dollars overseas - did NOT even donate a 'grain of rice' to the victims of severe Human Rights violations: including assault, looting and arson.

Because as Chaudhary said those $Millions were for Him and His family and NOT for any Hari, Ram or Tota suffering and living in the Girmit Center Refugee camp in Lautoka in 2000.

Chaudhary justs Loves to Hate the Refugees !!

Reply
Confused
5/2/2017 07:49:24 pm

I thought his accountant told IRD that the money was not his but of people of Fiji and he only kept in his personal bank as trustee. So because he did not open up a separate trust account that he was to pay taxes to the interest component of the earnings from this $2m under his own tax regime. Still money does not belong to him personally, isn't it?

Coward Australia
5/2/2017 01:15:56 am

Australia foreign policy supports USA foreign policy in Muslim countries and supports Saudi Arabia kingdom for oil. Saudi Kingdom finances terrorism that targets and enrols poor people of Muslim countries to destabilise a nation for USA's and Saudi's oil interests. In the process refugees are created.

If Australian foreign policy supports these two thugs then they should have balls to take these refugees into Australia than to be on going sinners and traitors.

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Welcome Home
5/2/2017 04:07:18 am

Justice of a kind has been delivered in this pitiful case: Fiji has been bungled out in Sydney 7s by NZ in the quarter finals. No comfort to this desperate young man from a persecuted ethnic minority in Iran. But let us focus on the humanity and compassion of a Namotomoto Mother who saw fit to offer him compassion and unconditional assistance. Fiji was expected by Australia in March 2001 to accept a proferred AU$3 - 4m to establish a camp for refugees in the immediate aftermath of the upheaval of 2000. When an expression of quizzical horror was made towards the official bearer of this dire news (given our then unsettled and chaotic internal climate), we were deemed ungrateful at least. The conscience of Fijians resides in the actions of a mother of little material means. Let the UNHCR do what it must do and may God be with this young man Sawari who should maybe feature in a film similar to 'LION' nominated for an Oscar on 27 February. Australian actor Nicole Kidman might assist?

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Spot-On
5/2/2017 09:51:49 pm

" The conscience of Fijians resides in the actions of a mother of little material means." Very well said.!

Our heart swells with Pride for nene and Isimeli.

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Chiku
5/2/2017 04:27:05 am

One idiot Labasa wallah Sanjeet Prasad says " someone made the right decision to deport the Iranian ( asylum seeker Sawari )" Fiji Times 4/2.
He should concentrate on the scoundrels that contaminate the Qawa River in Labasa which harms the livelihood of so many ordinary Labasa people .
The protection seeking refugee has harmed nobody in Labasa or Fiji and was not likely to.
It's a shame that he was deported in that Mafia thug rule manner in the " true democracy " that the rulers claim Fiji now has for the first time in its history.

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Rajend Naidu
5/2/2017 04:42:34 am

A must see documentary for anyone wanting to get a proper understanding and insight into the harm caused to refugees and asylum seekers is the SBS documentary Detention Centre : Stories From Australia's Detention System. Was screened last night 4/2 after the Chelsea v Arsenal match.

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Tui
5/2/2017 09:58:28 am

Shame on Fiji government

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Tomasi
5/2/2017 06:57:27 pm

Thank you Victor for the research and the light behind the story. I thank God for the kind mother of Namotomoto who opened her heart and home to a person of genuine need. This is a truly sad story, but is only one of the many which happens around us.

Through this saga, we see how people, Governments, the UN and the so-called rule of law all look at a person and his situation and how they respond to it. The contrasts are many, deep and worth studying for our future decisions on similar situations.

People and the government are rightly worried about national security, the rule of law, and political correctness. They use these as a lens to observe Sawari from a distance and judge his actions to flee his homeland in search of a peaceful place he could call his new home. Hence, the comments and action to deport the young man back to PNG.

In contrast, we hear of a mother, looking at the same situation from the eyes of a Fijian mother. All she sees was a son in genuine need for help, a stranger looking for help, for refuge, for true love and understanding. She did not hesitate to take her home and gave her lodging and home. I can only imagine how Sawari must have felt when he was welcomed home to his new Fijian family. Only he and God would understand that fully. But what a wonderful story of genuine love and care in a world of hate, bigotry legalism, political correctness, empty slogans and hypocrisy. Love and understanding was all Sawari needed. The Nadi mother gave that to him from her heart. I wonder what Sawari must be thinking now, in his prison cell at PNG. How can a mother and family accept him to their home with so much love, while leading political leaders show a lack of interest and understanding to him and treat him like a terrorist?

Many lessons can be learnt from this story. We can be agents of blessings to others in need while we are also in need ourselves. We can experience love and genuine understanding in a nation where the majority only cares for themselves. Governments are supposed to be people oriented and God-centred. Governments are supposed to serve the people rather than lord it over them. Who is the final arbiter in ethics, morality and the heart of the law? To what extent ought we to interprete the law, such that the law becomes a cruel master with a very cold and murderous heart?

Thank you Victor for the valuable contributions you are making to our nation and the world. Thank God for the good Samaritan mother and family of Namotomoto. We should be much wiser from this story. May God bless Fiji with more people who love and care about people, right and wrong and making our world a better place for all. I believe that for the Nadi mother, all she saw was a yound man in need. She saw first and foremost a son in need. To her, nothing else mattered. She responded just like she was taught to, with love. Imagine how Fiji can be that place of refuge love, care and hope in a world of great strife, hopelessness and despair. Vinaka.

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