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Outlook: Detainee EML019: My escape from Manus

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USE THIS - Jaivet4.jpg

10/04/2023 GMT

Detainee EML019: My escape from Manus

BBC World Service - Outlook, Detainee EML019: My escape from Manus

How Prison Break – his favourite TV show – inspired Jaivet Ealom’s daring bid for freedom

How Prison Break – his favourite TV show – inspired Rohingya refugee Jaivet Ealom to make a daring bid for freedom after years in the notorious Manus Regional Processing Centre.

As a student in his native Myanmar, Jaivet Ealom became obsessed with the hit US TV show Prison Break. He watched it on a loop, but never in his wildest dreams did he think he’d be in a similar position to its main character. 

Jaivet’s a Rohingya Muslim from Rakhine state where his freedoms were severely restricted by the ruling Buddhist majority. So when violent religious and ethnic clashes broke out in 2012, Jaivet was forced to flee. Now seeking asylum, he boarded a boat to Australia, but while at sea Australia’s policy changed and he and hundreds of others were transferred to Manus, a heavily-guarded island detention centre on Papua New Guinea. There he endured what the UN described as ‘inhumane’ conditions with no end date in sight. Years like this pushed him to the brink more than once. Then he remembered the many tricks and techniques he’d seen on Prison Break and tried to test this fiction against his own bleak reality. But how to get off a heavily-guarded tropical island? After months of meticulous planning he made an audacious dash for it. 

He’s written a book about his experience called Escape from Manus Prison. Australia says its policy is directed at tackling people-smuggling and deaths at sea.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in the programme, you can find information about where to get help and support at Befrienders.org or https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline/  

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Edgar Maddicott

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

(Photo: Jaivet Ealom’s ID pass. Credit: Jaivet Ealom)

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