FIJI – An Iranian refugee who fled from Manus Island to Fiji seeking asylum has been deported back to Papua New Guinea.

Loghman Sawari was detained by police while travelling with his lawyer to meet immigration officials in Suva.

The 21-year-old’s lawyer, Aman Ravindra-Singh, said six police officers arrested Sawari.

“In a very harsh manner they ordered him out. I tried to calm the situation, but they would not have any of that,” Ravindra-Singh told Pacific Beat.

“The cops, typically as they behave in Fiji like thugs, aggravated the situation – there was a lot of shouting.”

Ravindra-Singh said they were on the way to a planned meeting with Fiji’s director of immigration when the arrest happened.

He said police handed Sawari over to immigration authorities.

“I said to the immigration officer that I had a meeting with the director of immigration and there was obviously some misunderstanding.

“He simply said, ‘I do not know the director, I don’t know who he is’. Before I could say another word, the door was shut and the vehicle sped toward the airport.”

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.

Sawari said he had been beaten and bullied while in PNG.Sawari has already spent three years on Manus Island and has been critical of Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers and refugees

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.

Sawari was able to save money – and borrow some from several sources – for a plane ticket and used false papers to board a flight bound for Suva, landing late last week.

Fiji’s Attorney-General said Sawari was deported because he had entered Fiji on a fraudulent PNG passport and had failed to apply for asylum despite being in the country for 10 days.

Sayed-Khaiyum said he was advised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that Sawari was not recognised as a refugee under the UNHCR mandate.

“It has further advised that he is a refugee recognised by Papua New Guinea under its national procedures. So Fiji has merely returned Sawari to his rightful place of residence,” he said.

“Sawari eluded the authorities during his ten days in Fiji while posting photographs of himself on social media at various location.

“Under international law, anyone who is seeking political asylum is required to lodge an application without delay. In the case of Sawari, this did not happen.”

The Attorney General said authorities in Fiji were informed by their counterparts in Papua New Guinea that Sawari’s PNG passport was obtained by fraudulent means.

He said that meant Sawari was also in breach of Fijian law by knowingly misleading immigration officers in the exercise of their duties.

Sayed-Khaiyum said several attempts by the Immigration Department to engage with Sawari during his stay in Fiji were ignored.

“Fiji remains fully committed to the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, but we cannot tolerate a situation in which a person who is not an asylum seeker and who has already been granted refugee status in another country flagrantly violates the law.”

The UN Refugee Agency said it had sought assurances from Fiji’s government this week that Sawari would have access to the country’s asylum procedures.

“UNHCR deeply regrets that interventions to prevent Sawari’s forced return were not successful, and is profoundly concerned for his welfare,” it said in a statement.

David Manne, Executive Director of Refugee Legal in Melbourne, said that Fiji appeared to have “flagrantly violated” its obligations under the United Nations refugee convention by deporting Sawari without even hearing his claim to asylum.

“The central obligation really of Fiji as signatory is to ensure that it does not expel a person seeking protection to a place where they may well face further dangers,” he said, adding that there were concerns Sawari could face legal penalties because he appeared to have fled PNG with a false passport.

“It’s very unclear whether he will face any penalties because of the way in which he departed.”

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 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.

“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. I know they’ll kill me’,” she said.

Meanwhile, the human rights advocacy group, Amnesty International, said Fiji had failed a man who wanted refuge.

Amnesty’s Pacific Researcher Kate Schuetze said Sawari came to Fiji seeking protection and was entitled to a fair assessment of his claim.

She said at a time when the US and Australia were turning their backs on refugees, Fiji had missed a chance to act differently.

- ABC