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Hello everyone.

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My name is Behrouz Boochani.

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Some of you will know me;
some of you will not.

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I am a Kurdish novelist and journalist.

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In May 2013, I fled Iran

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because of my journalism 
and cultural activities.

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I traveled to Australia by boat, 
but never arrived.

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I was exiled to Manus Island 
alongside 1,000 other people.

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Manus Island is a remote tiny island

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in the north of Papua New Guinea, PNG,
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

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This is my story:

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A man who left his country
because he didn't want to live in prison.

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A man who sought asylum,
but ended up in a prison for six years.

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My story is the same
as 2,000 other innocent people.

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People who have been in prison

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in Manus and Nauru
for seeking asylum in Australia.

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My story is only one of many stories
in these two islands.

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When they exiled us to Manus in 2013,

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we found ourselves in a place 
that was worse than a prison.

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We were deprived from having
access to many things.

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Basic things, including having a phone.

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For four and a half years,
we were living in this prison

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with metal fences and guards,
and with much deprivation.

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At the end of 2017,

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we were forcibly moved from that prison
to other compounds on Manus Island.

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So the history of our life here
is in two parts:

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The closed prison and now the compounds

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which have fences around them and guards,

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but we are allowed to move
around the island during the day.

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Although we have been moved 
from the first prison,

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we are still in a prison,

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a bigger prison,

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an island prison.

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After three and a half years,
the PNG Supreme Court ruled

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that keeping innocent people
in prison is illegal

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and deprived us of our human rights.

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It also ruled that we
should have access to phones.

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This was a big achievement.

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Before that, I had smuggled
a phone into the prison

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by exchanging my clothes,
shoes, and cigarettes

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with a local man who was working
inside the prison,

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and I started to communicate
with the outside world,

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with people such as journalists.

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The guards would sometimes
attack our rooms, looking for phones.

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Twice they found my phone and took it,
and I had to smuggle another phone.

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This happened to many of us here,

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so it was not easy to communicate
to the outside world.

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I didn't feel safe
with the authorities and guards,

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and that's why I worked under a fake name
for more than two years.

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When I became sure that I had made

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a strong network of journalists
and supporters internationally,

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I decided it was safe to publish
my work under my real name.

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For me, writing has always been
an act of resistance.

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In this situation on Manus, 
it is still my resistance.

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The system that operates this prison 
aimed to reduce us to numbers,

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to remove our individuality, 
and destroy our identity.

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For me, writing and creating 
is a way of fighting

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to get my identity, humanity,
and dignity back,

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in front of a cruel system
that is established to take anything

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that has meaning of life from us.

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In Manus, I soon found
that the language of journalism

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is not able to describe
the systematic torture that we are under

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and the life in Manus prison camp.

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The language of journalism 
is a kind of language

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that is part of the power structures 
that I am fighting against.

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How can I describe six years
living in exile

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in one of the worst prisons in the world?

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Twelve people have died already.

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For so many people who have heard 
about people in Manus and Nauru

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we are reduced to some simple pictures.

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But we are human.

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We exist.

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And we are suffering.

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We are human, same as you.

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How can I describe a father's suffering

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who is separated from his wife
and children for six years?

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How can I describe a mother witnessing 
her small kids growing up for six years

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in a prison camp?

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How can I describe a young man
who was full of life,

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but has lost opportunity
to continue his education,

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to find love, has lost his health,
his family, his hope,

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has lost many opportunities 
that you take for granted?

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That is why I have worked for years
to tell this story,

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through creative and literary language.

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That is why I wrote a novel on my phone

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and sent it, text by text,

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through WhatsApp
to my translator in Australia.

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Language is important.

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You will notice I call
this place a prison,

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Manus prison,

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not an offshore processing center.

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Naming this prison as a prison 
shows the lies of government language.

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It helps us to understand
the structural and systematic torture

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of Australia's detention regime.

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Part of creating my own language

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is to fight against the commodification
and objectification of our pain.

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It is a deep part of this system 
that imprisons and tortures us.

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I know that people who participate in TEDx
share their inspiring life and perspective

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to create a way for others.

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But, for me, as a person,
who is still struggling

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alongside hundreds of innocent people
against this system,

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what can I say?

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How can I inspire people 
while still I am not sure

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if I will survive or not.

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I am really sorry, 
sorry that I make you uncomfortable,

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but I think that I don't have a choice
other than to make you uncomfortable

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because this is my story.

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I'm a kind of person who was born in war,

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I have had the life full of adventures,

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I've experienced homelessness, poverty,

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and sometimes the luxury
of an income and a home.

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I have met many kinds of people,

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I experienced amazing love,

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and of course, 
I have many stories to share.

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But, I think I don't have this right 
to talk about myself

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while many people are suffering
in these two islands.

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I don't know, perhaps, one day, 
when I am a free man,

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I will be invited to talk with people 
about other experiences -

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about love, life, and the meaning of life.

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I don't know, perhaps, 
if I smoke less, I will survive.

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I smoke too much.

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For now, I must write and talk

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because there are still 500 people
with me in prison on Manus Island.

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There are still hundreds on Nauru .

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We are still in prison.

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I have the tool of language, of writing.

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It's not easy to write from here.

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It costs me a lot.

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I fight to write and hope 
that people actually read my words closely

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and engage deeply with them.

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In the end, my wish

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is that people in Nauru and Manus
reach their freedom soon.

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Thank you

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(Applause)