Loghman Sawari, the Iranian refugee who fled Papua New Guinea to Fiji, has been arrested and apparently deported back to PNG.

Sawari was sent to the adult immigration detention centre on Manus Island by the Australian government, despite being an unaccompanied minor at 17 years of age.

He was granted refugee status and released in PNG but was soon homeless in the city of Lae. He was allegedly assaulted by a guard while in detention.

Last week Sawari fled PNG to Fiji with false documents, saying he faced persecution in PNG and was not safe.

In a recorded message heard by Guardian Australia, Sawari told a friend in Farsi: “I’m in a plane and they are sending me back. They arrested me and beat me.”

Sawari said “dangerous people” were trying to hurt him, and he asked the friend to “tell everyone”.

Photos published by Fiji One news purport to show Sawari being detained by immigration officials and taken to Nadi international airport before he had a chance to make his claim for refuge in the country.

Police & Immigration officials have detained refugee Loghman Sawari and have taken him to the Nadi International Airport. pic.twitter.com/JyGTQclLmx — Fiji One News (@FijiOneNews) February 2, 2017

An Australian-based refugee advocate said she had heard from Sawari after he boarded a flight in Nadi, believed to be bound for Port Moresby.

“He rang very quickly from the plane and the guards let him make one phone call,” Janet Galbraith told Guardian Australia.

“The lawyer picked him up, they had a meeting booked with immigration to present his refugee claim. They were driving to Suva when they were possibly stopped by police. It sounds like a very over-the-top reaction. They grabbed him out of the car and bundled him into the police car.”

Sawari’s lawyer attempted to follow but couldn’t keep up, Galbraith said, and by the time he reached the airport Sawari was already through to departures.

Sawari told her he’d been punched by a Fijian man.

“He said there is no humanity in the world and it’s better to die in your own country. He said this is the end for me, this is the last time you’ll hear my voice and I know they’ll kill me,” she said.

“He was really positive the first few days. He said the Fiji people were beautiful people and he felt safe and that he could contribute. But when word got out and media started printing stories in Fiji which linked refugees and Arabic people with terrorism, that he’d entered illegally, things started to get a lot harder.”

In one Fijian news report which aired on Thursday prior to the arrest, Sawari’s lawyer said his client was banking on the kindness of Fijians.

“Fiji is a signatory to the UN convention on refugees and it has been since 1972,” Aman Ravindra-Singh told Fiji One News.

“I am quite certain the Fiijian government would be looking at its obligations under the convention. We are hoping for a positive result and I am quite certain the government would want to show it respects human rights.”

Catherine Stubberfield, spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Canberra, said the organisation was seeking further information from Fijian authorities, and had already sought assurances Sawari would have access to national asylum procedures before he was removed.

“All asylum seekers are entitled to have their claims for asylum considered fairly and in accordance with the 1951 refugee convention, to which Fiji is signatory. This should ordinarily take place on the territory of the state where protection is sought,” Stubberfield said.

“We deeply regret that UNHCR’s interventions with the Fijian authorities to prevent Mr Sawari’s forced return were not successful.”

Amnesty International condemned Friday’s arrest.



“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.

“He came to Fiji seeking protection. He is entitled to a fair assessment of his claim. That process must run its course. At a time when the US and Australia are turning their back on refugees, this is a time for Fiji to show that it is different.”

Sawari did not immediately seek asylum when he arrived in Fiji but was working with a human rights lawyer, Aman Ravindra-Singh, and Fiji’s human rights and anti-discrimination commission.

“I told my story to them and they wanted to help me,” he told Guardian Australia on Monday. “They said, ‘What we can do, we will do for you.’ The people here have made me feel safe. I was never, not for one day, safe in PNG.”

He said he didn’t feel safe in PNG or Australia, and he feared they would come and get him and take him back.

Human Rights Watch Australia Director Elaine Pearson said Sawari’s deportation from Fiji was a “blatant violation of the refugee convention”.

“Under the convention, Sawari has a right to file a claim for asylum which did not happen – each case is then determined on its merits. Whether Loghman entered the country legally or not is irrelevant,” Pearson said.

“So long as Australia keeps flouting its international obligations to asylum seekers and refugees, it will give a green light to other countries in the region to do the same.”