Aziz in the snow, in Switzerland — Photo: Michael Green ' Hard to imagine. Start your life again. Have your own house, your own family.' – Abdul Aziz Muhamat Incredibly, Aziz is in Switzerland. And he’s just won a major international award for human rights defenders. He’s swamped with attention and adoration, briefings and business cards. But he is only allowed to be in Geneva for three short weeks. Then he has to return to Manus Island – back to the dangerous situation he’s being celebrated for...
Dec 16, 2019•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aziz, in a hotel room facing onto Genève-Cornavin railway station — Photo: Michael Green ' I just feel like I left my soul back there, you know. Personally I'm here, but my heart is still in Manus.' – Abdul Aziz Muhamat Aziz is shortlisted for a major international prize, the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The ceremony is in Geneva, Switzerland. Improbably, the prize’s organisers secretly arrange permission for him to leave Manus Island to attend the event. In this episode, Aziz...
Dec 16, 2019•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The men demonstrate their improvised well — Photo: Michael Green ‘ Twenty four days we lived as a nation … The only way I can describe [it] is that we were a nation.’ – Abdul Aziz Muhamat The detention centre on Manus Island might be closed, but Aziz – and the vast majority of the men who were held there – remain on the island, living in three different centres. By early 2019, Aziz is well into his sixth year, waiting. In that time, he’s felt free for only a few weeks – those few weeks when the ...
Feb 07, 2019•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's raining on Michael's last afternoon on Manus Island, and Aziz drops by to catch up. They discuss where things are at with Aziz and the other men, and what he expects will happen next. Then, it's time to say farewell. This episode will be the last of our short updates – but we'll return soon with another full episode, unpacking what Michael found when he visited Manus Island. ' If I can predict, the only thing that's gonna happen is we will be just forgotten in this island.' Abdul Aziz Muham...
Dec 18, 2017•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast ‘ I’m safe and I’m alive.’ Abdul Aziz Muhamat An eventful week has passed. After PNG immigration officials and police entered the decommissioned detention centre, destroying food, water and belongings, the 421 men remaining there are forced to relocate to the other facilities on Manus Island. After a brief spell of homelessness, Aziz has found a bed in the East Lorengau transit centre. In a chance meeting with Michael, he explains how he’s adjusting to the new situation – and trying to regain hi...
Nov 28, 2017•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rain comes. In his voice messages, Aziz sounds unwell – but speaks at length about how, in spite of their living conditions, the men finally feel they have some control over their lives. He tells Michael about how they're cooperating with each other, too – splitting duties like security and the daily cleaning of the compound. 'We don't always want to get the attention of the people about the hardship,' he explains. 'We are just paying the price for our freedom.' ' We are managing our lives. You ...
Nov 21, 2017•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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. ' The tank is still empty, because it's been like, a few days we haven't had any rain.' Abdul Aziz Muhamat Photo: Manus Alert ...
Nov 17, 2017•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aziz reports that Papua New Guinean immigration officials have been entering the detention centre to destroy tanks and wells. Meanwhile, the men remaining in the camp have tried to avoid provocation and confrontation. Daily protests have moved to a cooler time of day to account for their lack of water and shade. Aziz says things are quiet in the camp, and spirits are generally positive. Michael arrives on Manus Island. ' Food and water, electricity … this is not our main concern. Our main concer...
Nov 15, 2017•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hundreds of men remain in the decommissioned detention centre – refusing to be relocated to camps which many (including the UN's refugee agency) have said are unfinished or unsafe. Papua New Guinean immigration officers have removed fences, shade and clotheslines from the camp. Rubbish bins storing rain and well water have been tipped out, and makeshift wells destroyed. In this update, comprised of Aziz's weary and infrequent messages, he describes the increasingly strained situation. ' They wer...
Nov 11, 2017•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court rejects an appeal to restore power, water and food to the decommissioned detention centre, Aziz says the men never held much hope for a positive outcome in the first place. When Michael expresses concern about the ever-escalating situation, Aziz vents his mistrust of the courts and politicians, and defends the men’s decision to stay. ' I truly believe that each and every of these men … made his own choice to stay.' Abdul Aziz Muhamat Aziz, protesting — Phot...
Nov 07, 2017•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the detainees' isolation intensifies, Aziz tells Michael about the burden of his responsibilities – and his hope of some negotiation to end the stand-off. Like many of the other men, Aziz has tried to shield his family from knowing about his predicament. But with reports about the centre emerging in international media, he is compelled to lie his brother, who's recognised him in a photo. ' We are just waiting to hear from them.' Abdul Aziz Muhamat Barricaded inside the detention centre, men c...
Nov 04, 2017•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Three days after the official closure of the detention centre, several hundred detainees remain barricaded inside the gates without water, power or food supplied. Aziz describes the scene, and explains some of the ways the men are getting by. ' It's really hard to get water from outside, so we dug a well.' Abdul Aziz Muhamat Without water and power, detainees at Manus Island Regional Processing Centre shower in the rain — Photo: Manus Alert In this update Abdul Aziz Muhamat Michael Green Our the...
Nov 03, 2017•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mere hours from Australia's deadline to close Manus Island's immigration detention centre, tensions are running high amongst detainees. Why does Aziz seem calm? ' I feel like in 24 hours I will know something exactly, either positive or negative.' Abdul Aziz Muhamat Detainees shelter from rain at Manus Island Regional Processing Centre — Photo: Manus Alert In this update Abdul Aziz Muhamat Michael Green Our theme music was composed by Raya Slavin. More information The Messenger is a co-productio...
Oct 30, 2017•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast The security guards and other staff are leaving the detention centre. Aziz explains how the detainees are preparing for life without power. Damaged by rough weather, a tree has fallen across the perimeter fencing of Manus Island Regional Processing Centre — Photo: Manus Alert In this update Abdul Aziz Muhamat Michael Green Our theme music was composed by Raya Slavin. More information The Messenger is a co-production of Behind the Wire and the Wheeler Centre. It’s produced by Michael Green, André...
Oct 27, 2017•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Abdul Aziz Muhamat — Photo: Michael Green As the days count down to the end of October – when Australia has promised to close the detention centre on Manus Island – Aziz's short voice messages outline the situation as he understands it, and how he intends to respond. Daily protests continue on Manus Island — Photo: supplied In this update Abdul Aziz Muhamat Michael Green Our theme music was composed by Raya Slavin. More information The Messenger is a co-production of Behind the Wire and the Whee...
Oct 23, 2017•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast With just ten days left before Australia closes the detention centre on Manus Island, Aziz leaves a few short voice messages, explaining how he is feeling. Abdul Aziz Muhamat — Photo: Michael Green In this update Abdul Aziz Muhamat Michael Green Our theme music was composed by Raya Slavin. 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...
Oct 21, 2017•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aziz — Photo: Michael Green ' This place has become part of me. It runs in my blood.' Abdul Aziz Muhamat After seven long months in Port Moresby recovering from knee surgery, Aziz finally returns to Manus Island. He’s overjoyed to be home in the detention centre – seeing his friends and sleeping in his old bed. But just as he returns, the Australian government begins shutting some of the centre’s compounds – trying to force refugees to go home, or accept resettlement in Papua New Guinea. Aziz an...
Sep 28, 2017•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Abdul Aziz Muhamat and Michael Green on Manus Island — (Photo: Behrouz Boochani) ' Freedom is not free. You have to pay for it. And we pay; now we are paying for our freedoms.' Abdul Aziz Muhamat Just before Christmas of 2016, Aziz is transferred to Port Moresby for knee surgery. With better phone reception, Michael and Aziz share a long phone call in which they reflect on the year that’s ending, the holiday season and the months since they met face to face on Manus Island. The change in Aziz’s ...
Sep 22, 2017•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Behrouz and Aziz at Hauwei Island — (Photo: Michael Green) ' I’m excited because … for almost three years I haven’t left the centre, and I was just locked inside there … Now, I’m walking on the streets – every two steps I take, I turn and I look behind me, like, "Where is the security guard?"' Abdul Aziz Muhamat It’s July 2016. On the morning Michael flies to Manus Island, Aziz leaves the detention centre for the first time in nearly three years. In this episode, Aziz and Michael finally meet in...
Jul 07, 2017•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast ‘ I have got energy, so … why can’t I just keep in touch with the outside world?’ Aziz Photo: Michael Green Even though Aziz is in detention, far away from both his home and from the country whose government is holding him, he’s on his phone all day. He’s sending messages to Michael, or he’s on Facebook with friends and activists, or he’s following the latest news in Australia. He’s hyperconnected. But his connection to the outside world is complicated and, despite their constant communication, ...
May 10, 2017•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast ‘ I'm just pretending … as if I'm preparing for a space journey, and the space journey, it takes many years.’ Aziz After months of interviews, Aziz finally sits facing an immigration officer and an interpreter, about to find out whether he’s been granted refugee status. But he’s too angry to talk about that. What he'd rather know is why he’s just spent weeks locked in a jail cell in Lorengau, before being abruptly released without charge. In this episode, Aziz tells Michael about the hunger stri...
Apr 09, 2017•41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Stopping the boats. It's one of the most fraught topics in Australian politics, and most of the time it comes out in two soundbites: saving lives at sea, and securing our borders. Abdul Aziz Muhamat ' I was instructed to … select the children on the basis of how young they looked – because we wanted to send the message to people smuggling networks that even the youngest children were eligible for transfer to the island.' Greg Lake, former Director of Offshore Processing in the Department of Immi...
Mar 13, 2017•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast A major ruling by the Papua New Guinea Supreme Court offers hope for Aziz – but, amidst the promise, the men receive devastating news from Nauru. Meanwhile, they’re encouraged to accept the option to resettle in PNG. So why doesn’t Aziz take it? Aziz, with his smuggled phone ' We don’t know what next, but this is really one of the first good news that we ever heard.' Aziz When Aziz learns of Papua New Guinea’s Supreme Court ruling that detention on Manus Island is illegal, he sends Michael messa...
Feb 23, 2017•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aziz’s life has been a story of chance – and choice. As Michael pieces together Aziz’s journey from Sudan to Manus, he realises Aziz has been searching for a safe place for about eight years. So what gives him the ability, and the energy, to speak out? How has Aziz fought for so long, and what makes him want to be ‘the messenger’? ‘ I’m pretending like I’m really happy, and laugh, and you know, smiling on the phones and doing stuff like that – so they feel like, “Oh, my son is really living in a...
Feb 09, 2017•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast As the world reacts to the Trump administration’s new US border policies, Aziz’s situation is as uncertain as ever, with no end in sight. Life on Manus grinds on. ‘ When we see someone who is just hurting himself or he is trying to commit suicide, sometimes you just drag yourself away because of not getting the pictures in your head.’ Aziz In this episode, Aziz and Michael start to get to know each other – and Aziz begins to paint a picture for Michael of daily life in the detention centre. Wher...
Feb 02, 2017•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast As a journalist, Michael Green had spoken to a lot of people who’ve been held in detention centres. Some were there for a few weeks, and others for as long as six years. But he’d never spoken to someone who was still inside a detention centre, and that’s because Australia’s immigration department, and the governments of Nauru and Manus, have traditionally made it very difficult for journalists to communicate with detainees. Visitors aren’t allowed to make recordings, and the people who came by b...
Jan 23, 2017•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to The Messenger . The series begins from Monday 23 January 2017 – but you can subscribe to the feed now in iTunes or your favourite podcast app. Sign up to the Wheeler Weekly for updates via email. #messengerpodcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 18, 2017•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
