Kurdish-Iranian journalist and author Behrouz Boochani, whose bestselling NO FRIEND BUT THE MOUNTAINS shone a light on the atrocious conditions of refugees held by the Australian government in the offshore detention centres on Manus, Naru, and Christmas islands, has finally been granted refugee status by New Zealand.

Writing via text messages on a smuggled-in mobile phone, he chronicled life on Manus Island for major news agencies such as The Guardian and wrote his prizewinning book, telling the stories of the voiceless refugees imprisoned there. After being detained for six years, he and all the other prisoners on Manus were released and won a lawsuit  against the Australian government when the detention centre was declared illegal.

He had traveled to New Zealand in early 2020 for a literary festival and immediately applied for asylum, which was granted seven years to the day he was detained by Australian authorities, and on his 37th birthday, the best gift he could be given.

To read the whole story from The Guardian, click here.