I suppose if someone waiting legally to come here from the many camps wrote a timeline of the horrific conditions they face they would not get a look in for the prize. Instead a queue jumper who paid smugglers gets the nod. Good on him for fooling the suckers.

cont'd ...

Sorry for the typo.

Here's the link again:

http://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/a-place-of-punishment-no-friend-but-the-mountains-by-behrouz-boochani/

o sung wu Good call
From The link by Foxy
One hesitates to invoke Auschwitz in a discussion of Australia’s asylum seeker detention regime, a system that, for all its horrors, does not implement genocide. But Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend But the Mountains – a book about, among other things, the power of writing – invites the comparison, as a text self-consciously positioned within a broader literature of incarceration.

The narrative begins with Boochani leaving Indonesia on a decrepit boat, a voyage that culminates in his arrival on Australian territory (specifically, Christmas Island). There, as the asylum seekers learn of their imminent transfer to Manus Island, they’re told to change into new clothing provided by the guards.

A grim-looking officer gives a set of clothes to anyone who passes through the strip-and-search stage, even though the clothes don’t match the size of the person in any way whatsoever. There is no choice. We have to wear whatever they issue …. Yellow polyester T-shirts – they transform our bodies, they utterly degrade us.

Also Quote "When I was first exiled to Manus … I did not know anyone in Australia. I smuggled a phone in to work on as a writer "

** If he as he says smuggle the phone in that would imply it or something was illegal, criminal, he will go well in the Victorian Labor party **

Bravo, says Foxy when her Leftist mates break the rules. There's no getting away from the Marxists’ total lack of fairness and integrity. Hypocrites!

Runner,

I don't think they have an award for the foulest mouth misandrist, or Ford would get it every year.

I do wonder whether I should write a book myself, detailing my own unremarkable struggles to protect our Borders from every interloper wishing to partake in our generous Welfare system. The trouble is, I'm not aware of any contests or 'prize' groups, that might judge any Literary merit, awarded for topics originating from the conservative side of politics?

The narrative begins with Boochani leaving Indonesia on a decrepit boat,
PhilipS,
I wonder why the book doesn't begin with stepping over the border of his country into the neighbouring country ?