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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;[br]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 [br]and cultural activities.

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I traveled to Australia by boat, [br]but never arrived.

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I was exiled to Manus Island [br]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,[br]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[br]because he didn't want to live in prison.

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

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

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People who have been in prison

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in Manus and Nauru[br]for seeking asylum in Australia.

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My story is only one of many stories[br]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 [br]that was worse than a prison.

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We were deprived from having[br]access to many things.

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Basic things, including having a phone.

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

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with metal fences and guards,[br]and with much deprivation.

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At the end of 2017,

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

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So the history of our life here[br]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[br]around the island during the day.

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Although we have been moved [br]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,[br]the PNG Supreme Court ruled

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that keeping innocent people[br]in prison is illegal

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and deprived us of our human rights.

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It also ruled that we[br]should have access to phones.

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This was a big achievement.

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Before that, I had smuggled[br]a phone into the prison

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by exchanging my clothes,[br]shoes, and cigarettes

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with a local man who was working[br]inside the prison,

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and I started to communicate[br]with the outside world,

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with people such as journalists.

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

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Twice they found my phone and took it,[br]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[br]to the outside world.

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

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and that's why I worked under a fake name[br]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[br]and supporters internationally,

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

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

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

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

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to remove our individuality, [br]and destroy our identity.

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For me, writing and creating [br]is a way of fighting

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to get my identity, humanity,[br]and dignity back,

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in front of a cruel system[br]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[br]that the language of journalism

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is not able to describe[br]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 [br]is a kind of language

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

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How can I describe six years[br]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 [br]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[br]and children for six years?

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How can I describe a mother witnessing [br]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[br]who was full of life,

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but has lost opportunity[br]to continue his education,

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to find love, has lost his health,[br]his family, his hope,

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has lost many opportunities [br]that you take for granted?

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That is why I have worked for years[br]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[br]to my translator in Australia.

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Language is important.

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You will notice I call[br]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 [br]shows the lies of government language.

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It helps us to understand[br]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[br]and objectification of our pain.

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

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I know that people who participate in TEDx[br]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,[br]who is still struggling

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alongside hundreds of innocent people[br]against this system,

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what can I say?

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How can I inspire people [br]while still I am not sure

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if I will survive or not.

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I am really sorry, [br]sorry that I make you uncomfortable,

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but I think that I don't have a choice[br]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[br]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, [br]I have many stories to share.

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

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while many people are suffering[br]in these two islands.

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

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

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about love, life, and the meaning of life.

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I don't know, perhaps, [br]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[br]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 [br]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[br]reach their freedom soon.

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Thank you

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(Applause)