Notes

Escaping from Taliban persecution in Afghanistan, Abbas Nazari's parents fled the country in 2001 to find a safe place in which to bring up their five children. Their six-month journey through Pakistan and Indonesia searching for asylum culminated in being crammed onto a small fishing boat with 426 other asylum seekers. When that boat started to sink in the Indian Ocean, they were mercifully rescued by a Norwegian cargo boat, the Tampa. The Tampa owners expected to deliver the refugees to Australia but were told they were not welcome there. This sparked an international incident between Australia, Norway and Indonesia over responsibility for these people, leaving them stranded on the boat and eventually being sent to Nauru Island. New Zealand offered to take 150 of them, including Abbas and his family. It's now 20 years since this happened and Abbas tells his story, from the Taliban's horrendous rule in Afghanistan to his family's desperate search for safety to how this became an international political hot issue to settling and growing up in far-off New Zealand. It's also the story of the other children and families who were resettled here.
"When the Taliban were at the height of their power in 2001, Abbas Nazari's parents were faced with a choice: stay and face persecution in their homeland, or seek security for their young children elsewhere. The family's desperate search for safety took them on a harrowing journey from the mountains of Afghanistan to a small fishing boat in the Indian Ocean, crammed with more than 400 other asylum seekers. When their boat started to sink, they were mercifully saved by a cargo ship, the Tampa. However, one of the largest maritime rescues in modern history quickly turned into an international stand-off, as Australia closed its doors to these asylum seekers. The Tampa had waded into the middle of Australia's national election, sparking their hardline policy of offshore detention. While many of those rescued by the Tampa were the first inmates sent to the island of Nauru, Abbas and his family were some of the lucky few to be resettled in New Zealand. Twenty years after the Tampa affair, Abbas tells his amazing story, from living under Taliban rule, to spending a terrifying month at sea, to building a new life at the bottom of the world. A powerful and inspiring story for our times, After the Tampa celebrates the importance of never letting go of what drives the human spirit: hope."