Iranian refugee who sought asylum in Fiji expected to face Papua New Guinea court
|
Version 0 of 1. Loghman Sawari, the refugee who was deported back to Papua New Guinea after he attempted to seek asylum in Fiji, has been arrested and charged in Port Moresby. The 21-year-old, who was mistakenly sent to Manus Island at the age of 17 despite being an unaccompanied minor, and who was later left homeless on the streets of Lae, has been charged with falsifying passport documents, it is understood. Last week Sawri had fled to Fiji, claiming he could no longer survive in PNG. He intended to seek asylum, however on the way to a meeting with immigration officials he was stopped by police and bundled into a car, his lawyer told Guardian Australia. He was put on a plane back to PNG, but managed to call at least two people before it took off. In an audio recording obtained by Guardian Australia, he pleaded for help and said “dangerous people” were trying to hurt him and send him back. A number of reporters and human rights observers were waiting for his plane at Port Moresby’s airport on Friday, but he was detained by authorities and questioned for several hours. It is understood he has been charged and is being held at a Port Moresby police station before a bail hearing in court on Monday. The ABC reported Sawari faces charges which carry up to a six-month term in prison. Human rights groups condemned the actions of Fijian authorities, noting that the Pacific island nation was a signatory to the UN refugee convention. “Loghman is a young man who fled persecution in Iran. He has been found to be a refugee. Australia didn’t respect his rights, and now Fiji is failing to do so,” said Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific researcher. The Fijian government said he was deported for failing to lodge an asylum claim on arrival, however Sawari’s lawyer said his client had arranged a meeting with immigration officials and they were on the way when he was arrested. Aman Ravindra-Singh told a press conference he had an agreement with Fiji’s immigration director that Sawari would present his claim for asylum on Friday morning. “We took the date as Friday, which was mutually agreed by the director … I proposed Friday and it was accepted, in good faith, because I had to gather the documents to support his application. “We had to bring in documents from PNG, we have to bring in documents from Australia and that was very important and we kept to our timeline, we did not ask for an extension and we were on our way this morning to Suva, to meet with the director to present our application for asylum.” Sawari – an Ahwazi Arab who fled Iran after his two brothers were imprisoned and tortured by the Iranian regime and a cousin was publicly hanged for his opposition to the government – was found to be a refugee while detained on Manus Island. |