The Messenger
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It's Been 17 Days
Seventeen days into the stand-off with authorities, Aziz tells Michael about how men in the detention centre are dealing with the lack of water after tanks and wells were destroyed – as well as the men's medical needs, many arising from the ad hoc water supply. And with New Zealand's resettlement offer in the headlines, he reflects on why Australia has so far refused it.
Abdul Aziz Muhamat'The tank is still empty, because it's been like, a few days we haven't had any rain.'
Photo: Manus Alert
In this update
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Abdul Aziz Muhamat
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Michael Green
Our theme music was composed by Raya Slavin.
Further reading
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'NZ refugee offer stands, despite new allegations', by Mei Heron, Radio NZ, accessed 17 November 2017
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'Decay, despair, defiance: inside the Manus Island refugee camp', by Ben Doherty, Guardian Australia, accessed 17 November 2017
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'What Is Happening on Manus Island? The Detainee Crisis Explained', by Russell Goldman and Damien Cave, New York Times, accessed 17 November 2017
More information
The Messenger is a co-production of Behind the Wire and the Wheeler Centre. It’s produced by Michael Green, André Dao, Hannah Reich and Bec Fary, with Jon Tjhia and Sophie Black at the Wheeler Centre.
This short update was edited and mixed by Jon Tjhia.
Thank you
Dana Affleck, Angelica Neville and Sienna Merope. Also to Behind the Wire’s many participants and volunteers. Behind the Wire is supported by the Bertha Foundation.
Who?
Abdul Aziz Muhamat
Abdul Aziz Muhamat is a 24-year-old man from Darfur, Sudan. He is from the Zaghawa ethnicity, and with his family, he fled his village to a refugee camp. He arrived in Australia by boat in 2013 and was taken to Manus Island, where he remains.
Michael Green
Michael Green is a journalist in Melbourne. He has written about environmental and social issues for the Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Nature, Nautilus, Smith Journal, Right Now and Overland, among others. He is the coordinator of Behind the Wire, and has been working on a book of people’s stories from detention called They Cannot Take the Sky, which will be published in March 2017 by Allen & Unwin. He is also producing an exhibition at Melbourne’s Immigration Museum based on the stories in the book, which will open on 17 March 2017.
The Messenger
From Behind the Wire and the Wheeler Centre, The Messenger brings you into the Australian immigration detention centre on Manus Island – and reveals, in intimate detail, one man's experience of what it's really like to flee tragedy and seek asylum by boat.
Discussion
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