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Escape from Manus Prison: One Man's Daring Quest for Freedom
The awe-inspiring story of the only person to successfully escape Australia's notorious offshore detention centre--and his long search for freedom.
In 2013 Jaivet Ealom fled Myanmar's brutal regime, where Rohingya like him were being persecuted and killed, and boarded a boat of asylum seekers bound for Australia. Instead of finding refuge, he was transported to Australia's infamous Manus Regional Processing Centre.
Blistering hot days spent in shipping containers on the island melted into weeks, then years . . . until, finally, facing either jail in Papua New Guinea or being returned to almost certain death in Myanmar, he took matters into his own hands. Drawing inspiration from the hit show Prison Break, Jaivet meticulously planned his escape. He made it out alive but was stateless, with no ID or passport. While the nightmare of Manus was behind him, his true escape to freedom had only just begun.
How Jaivet made it to sanctuary in Canada in a six-month-long odyssey by foot, boat, car, and plane, with nothing but his instinct for survival, is miraculous. His story will astonish, anger and inspire you. It will make you reassess what it means to give refuge and redefine what can be achieved by one man determined to beat the odds.
In 2013 Jaivet Ealom fled Myanmar's brutal regime, where Rohingya like him were being persecuted and killed, and boarded a boat of asylum seekers bound for Australia. Instead of finding refuge, he was transported to Australia's infamous Manus Regional Processing Centre.
Blistering hot days spent in shipping containers on the island melted into weeks, then years . . . until, finally, facing either jail in Papua New Guinea or being returned to almost certain death in Myanmar, he took matters into his own hands. Drawing inspiration from the hit show Prison Break, Jaivet meticulously planned his escape. He made it out alive but was stateless, with no ID or passport. While the nightmare of Manus was behind him, his true escape to freedom had only just begun.
How Jaivet made it to sanctuary in Canada in a six-month-long odyssey by foot, boat, car, and plane, with nothing but his instinct for survival, is miraculous. His story will astonish, anger and inspire you. It will make you reassess what it means to give refuge and redefine what can be achieved by one man determined to beat the odds.
368 pages, Paperback
Published August 2, 2022
26 people are currently reading
763 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
July 27, 2021
I read this book within 24 hours which is really unlike me. I was gripped by every single page of horror and perseverance. I'm an Australian, and I'm ashamed to say it wasn't until I read this story that I understood the Australian detention centres in the way that I now do. I feel so ashamed of the way our country deals with this issue and so betrayed by the media. I'm so sorry Jaivet experienced such horrible treatment from our government and was incredibly moved and inspired by his story and sheer determination. He just never gave up, despite the many roadblocks and hurdles he faced. It's given me a lot to think about! I really appreciate Jaivet putting this story to paper, being a voice for those who cannot be heard and for raising awareness through his experience. Thank you for opening my eyes. This afternoon I sat out the front of my house describing the story to my neighbour. She is a refugee Doctor here who provides a service free for the refugee community. She opened up to me about her patients and some of their experience, some of which have come from Manus Island detention. I would not have understood this as much as I now do that I've read this book. To anyone considering this book, you won't regret it. It was inspiring, gut wrenching and eye opening. I can't stop thinking about it to be honest.
September 2, 2021
A must read. For everyone. I’m so sad that Javiet and countless others have had to endure these experiences. This is a really good read to understand Australia’s immigration policies and how they have negatively impacted genuine refugees. I cried so much. I just wish he gets to enjoy his life now and pray there is hope for others who are still persecuted, misplaced or in detention.
January 5, 2022
This book made me so ashamed it brought me to tears.
A must-read for everyone in Australia and other countries like the UK and Denmark who are talking about offshore processing of asylum seekers.
Also one for anyone who has ever wondered how people in Germany and Eastern Europe could possibly have been ignorant of the Nazi concentration camps.
A must-read for everyone in Australia and other countries like the UK and Denmark who are talking about offshore processing of asylum seekers.
Also one for anyone who has ever wondered how people in Germany and Eastern Europe could possibly have been ignorant of the Nazi concentration camps.
January 20, 2022
This book was a Christmas present. It is extremely well-written, showing the writer to be very bright, extremely resourceful, and an unusually thoughtful young man.
He tells a horrendous story of his escape, as a Rohingya man, from the military rulers of Myanmar, intent on the genocide of his people, and his two attempts to flee Indonesia by sea, bound for Australia. The first one nearly resulted in his drowning, the second saw him successfully arrive on Christmas Island, an Australian protectorate. His timing couldn't have been worse. Only days before he arrived, the then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced a change of policy on asylum seekers - no one who arrived by boat would ever be settled in Australia, even if their refugee claims were accepted. Instead of finding asylum in Australia, Jaivet was transferred to a tiny island off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) under a shonky deal struck between the governments of Australia and PNG. Manus Island! Truly a name that will go down in history as reflecting forever Australia's shame as a supposedly civilised country.
A few months after the author's arrival on Manus Island, the government changed in Canberra. Under new Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the policy on asylum seekers grew even more hard line with the introduction of Operation Sovereign Borders. Australia's present Prime Minister (this is written in early 2022), Scott Morrison was Immigration Minister at the time and his boast remains that "he stopped the boats". He did this at the expense of young lives, like Jaivet Ealom, the author of this book.
You must read the book if you want details of the conditions the poor detainees on Manus Island had to endure. They do not make pleasant reading. Jaivet was incarcerated there for almost four years, before he made his escape.
It's the writer's escape which is so gripping and so well told - the flight on a plane from Manus Island to Port Moresby with a fake identity card, his worrying stay in Moresby and subsequent flight to Bougainville, where he stayed for some time. His transfer to the Solomon Islands by boat and his long wait in Honiara before devising an ingenious plan to travel to Toronto Canada, via Fiji and Hong Kong, using a fake passport. As he is grilled by immigration officers and flight officials, at the various airports, the readers' hearts are in their mouths. By now, you are rooting for him all the way, hoping against hope that he'll make it!
Of course he does, or the book would never have been written, but believe me it's gripping reading. Up with all the best escape stories i read as a teenager.
The overall message of this book though is a sad one: "man's inhumanity to man", and the worst of it is, for an Australian reader, that the inhumanity and sheer brutish cruelty is displayed by our elected Australian governments and those they have employed to carry out their grim policies. The deaths and ruined lives of these predominantly young asylum seekers are the terrible cost.
But there is a cost to Australia too - so much talent and human potential that has gone to waste through these terrible and stupid policies, talent that Australia could have been using and capitalising upon. In Jaivet Ealom's case, Canada will the country that gains a very grateful and forever valuable citizen, and Australia will be the loser. We deserve to hang our heads in shame that we could ever have elected such governments.
It's a great book. Do read it!
He tells a horrendous story of his escape, as a Rohingya man, from the military rulers of Myanmar, intent on the genocide of his people, and his two attempts to flee Indonesia by sea, bound for Australia. The first one nearly resulted in his drowning, the second saw him successfully arrive on Christmas Island, an Australian protectorate. His timing couldn't have been worse. Only days before he arrived, the then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced a change of policy on asylum seekers - no one who arrived by boat would ever be settled in Australia, even if their refugee claims were accepted. Instead of finding asylum in Australia, Jaivet was transferred to a tiny island off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) under a shonky deal struck between the governments of Australia and PNG. Manus Island! Truly a name that will go down in history as reflecting forever Australia's shame as a supposedly civilised country.
A few months after the author's arrival on Manus Island, the government changed in Canberra. Under new Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the policy on asylum seekers grew even more hard line with the introduction of Operation Sovereign Borders. Australia's present Prime Minister (this is written in early 2022), Scott Morrison was Immigration Minister at the time and his boast remains that "he stopped the boats". He did this at the expense of young lives, like Jaivet Ealom, the author of this book.
You must read the book if you want details of the conditions the poor detainees on Manus Island had to endure. They do not make pleasant reading. Jaivet was incarcerated there for almost four years, before he made his escape.
It's the writer's escape which is so gripping and so well told - the flight on a plane from Manus Island to Port Moresby with a fake identity card, his worrying stay in Moresby and subsequent flight to Bougainville, where he stayed for some time. His transfer to the Solomon Islands by boat and his long wait in Honiara before devising an ingenious plan to travel to Toronto Canada, via Fiji and Hong Kong, using a fake passport. As he is grilled by immigration officers and flight officials, at the various airports, the readers' hearts are in their mouths. By now, you are rooting for him all the way, hoping against hope that he'll make it!
Of course he does, or the book would never have been written, but believe me it's gripping reading. Up with all the best escape stories i read as a teenager.
The overall message of this book though is a sad one: "man's inhumanity to man", and the worst of it is, for an Australian reader, that the inhumanity and sheer brutish cruelty is displayed by our elected Australian governments and those they have employed to carry out their grim policies. The deaths and ruined lives of these predominantly young asylum seekers are the terrible cost.
But there is a cost to Australia too - so much talent and human potential that has gone to waste through these terrible and stupid policies, talent that Australia could have been using and capitalising upon. In Jaivet Ealom's case, Canada will the country that gains a very grateful and forever valuable citizen, and Australia will be the loser. We deserve to hang our heads in shame that we could ever have elected such governments.
It's a great book. Do read it!
October 15, 2023
Every Australian should read this book
August 16, 2024
okay just finished this and am crying - absolutely insane and i am literally recommending this book to everybody.
I actually do not have words right now like so SO much happened, and i hate everyone and everything and love everything too. and i have no idea how some people have hearts and others have a soulless void -
and! i have a (i was about to say newfound but that isn't true) dramatically increased hate for Australia and the racism so casually (and not so) embedded into every aspect.
i am here questioning everything right now, power, politics, humanity and what not.
okay final note is that i truly do think this is must read because peoples stories deserved to be heard, the very least we can ever do for someone is listen
I actually do not have words right now like so SO much happened, and i hate everyone and everything and love everything too. and i have no idea how some people have hearts and others have a soulless void -
and! i have a (i was about to say newfound but that isn't true) dramatically increased hate for Australia and the racism so casually (and not so) embedded into every aspect.
i am here questioning everything right now, power, politics, humanity and what not.
okay final note is that i truly do think this is must read because peoples stories deserved to be heard, the very least we can ever do for someone is listen
August 14, 2021
This is a gripping read, and a horrifying one also. Remember Papillion? I kept thinking of that escape story as I read. If you have not followed the Australian government's policy regarding boat people over the last 10 years, this is a good way to learn about it. We can also learn first hand what the Manus Island detention camp was really like. Even if you don’t want this information, it is a brilliant true escape story by a plucky young man whose life as a Rohingyan in Burma taught him how to live under constant threat as well as how to remain anonymous in order to obtain what most people would consider a basic right, such as a secondary education and a chance to a place in a University. These skills and his love of study and the kindness of people he meets, help him achieve his escape and start a new life in Canada.
Why, one may ask, is Canada's refugee policy so different to Australis's?
Why, one may ask, is Canada's refugee policy so different to Australis's?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2023
Never have I read such heart-wrenching ordeal😱. This is NOT a fiction! This man has lived through the most horrific, physical, mental and emotional trauma inflicted on a human being by corrupt governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea and found the courage to tell his story. I’m so glad & proud Canada granted him refugee status.
May he live a long, happy & healthy life in my country🙏🥰
May he live a long, happy & healthy life in my country🙏🥰
July 11, 2021
Everybody should read this book. Australia, hang your head in shame. Your lack of humanity to those desperate for safety and compassion is deplorable
September 8, 2021
If you read a book, make it this one. And get involved in your local refugee activist group to fight the years of brutal bipartisan refugee policy in Australia.
November 19, 2021
The most important book I’ve read in a long, long time.
February 8, 2023
Incredible. I don’t know how some of those Australian leaders can sleep at night.
December 23, 2023
This book was such a great look at a colonization effort I had never heard of previously. Jaivet explained the experience he and thousands more had in their search for asylum from murderous and genocidal governments of their home countries. Jaivet explained the Pacific Solution, his experience in an offshore detention centre, his escape, the many people who took personal risks assisting his escape, and his eventual settlement in Canada.
July 18, 2023
A story of horrendous persecution and hopelessness.
Makes me proud that Canada accepts refugees. This man, obviously very intelligent, has written a book that should be required reading for anyone interested in world politics and activities.
Makes me proud that Canada accepts refugees. This man, obviously very intelligent, has written a book that should be required reading for anyone interested in world politics and activities.
July 12, 2024
4.5 stars
oh my god
oh my god
September 7, 2022
What an amazing story! It's a thriller and a page-turner that also happens to be true. And while you're wondering, your heart racing, how Jaivet will get out of the next high-stakes scrape, you'll learn a lot about the world's busted refugee system, and what it's like to be caught in its gears.
Whether you're living in Canada (where Jaivet finally aims for), Burma (where he's from), Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (where he was trapped), Australia (which created this rotten refugee system he was trapped in), or from anywhere, but just enjoy having your mind opened and your heart stirred, this is very much a book you should pick up, and try your best to put back down.
Whether you're living in Canada (where Jaivet finally aims for), Burma (where he's from), Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (where he was trapped), Australia (which created this rotten refugee system he was trapped in), or from anywhere, but just enjoy having your mind opened and your heart stirred, this is very much a book you should pick up, and try your best to put back down.
November 10, 2021
An incredible heart wrenching book which throws up many emotions: admiration of this young man, compassion for all Manus prisoners, anger toward systematic cruelity and shame at being a priviledged Australian aware of, but not acting on, the harshness of our policies.
January 15, 2022
Incredible read and extremely important for all Australians to read. This is a true account of one man's journey to seek asylum. He finds himself in hell on earth and at the hands of a despicable brutal policy designed to torture innocent people. We must know the present to change the future.
January 26, 2022
Jaivet tells his story of escaping Burma (Myanmar), spending time incarcerated in refugee camps and eventually escaping to and being welcomed by Canada.
March 1, 2022
A difficult but fascinating read. Highly recommend 👌
January 5, 2022
Wow, what an incredible book.
The author is from a minority ethnic group in Burma and the larger population of Buddhists were involved in extreme racism and slowly this smaller group had their freedoms removed. They could not stay at a friend's house without requesting and receiving approval from the government and there were checkpoints between villages where the majority could pass through easily, but Jaivet's people had to pay tolls they couldn't afford. The situation increased to brutality and genocide which led to the author escaping to save his life and aim for a normal life of freedom. There are many stages in this search, with dangers on the sea and on land, in many countries, each journey and new location is harrowing and brutal.
Being a refugee without documentation put him at the mercy and cruelty of wherever he landed. Much of the story is on Manus Island and is a scathing expose' of Australian politics, their political agenda and 'generous amount of double speak" and where "greed and power collide and combine to destroy the powerless." This fact stunned and disturbed me... The Australian government invited just one security company to submit a tender, the companies address was a beach shack on Kangaroo Island with a PO Box in Singapore. They charged $433,000,000 for 22 months to maintain the processing facility (jail) on Manus. That is a fee of $1600 per day, per detainee, where the conditions were atrocious, no pillow, rancid food, no medical attention, no proper showers and even the drinking water would run out. The real cost was only $108 per person, giving the tender $17 million dollars profit every single month!
The author is a quiet, studious person, but the lengths of deception he went to, the risks he took and bravery he displayed, to fight for, and claim his freedom, while dealing with survivors' guilt, is astounding. And his network of helpers who risked their own freedom, was a vast and incredible hidden team, who were often strangers.
This story demonstrates the cruelty and power plays humans are capable of, and how we may have to take the reins of our life, work incredibly hard and push ourselves well outside our comfort zone, to give ourselves a future of freedom.
The author is from a minority ethnic group in Burma and the larger population of Buddhists were involved in extreme racism and slowly this smaller group had their freedoms removed. They could not stay at a friend's house without requesting and receiving approval from the government and there were checkpoints between villages where the majority could pass through easily, but Jaivet's people had to pay tolls they couldn't afford. The situation increased to brutality and genocide which led to the author escaping to save his life and aim for a normal life of freedom. There are many stages in this search, with dangers on the sea and on land, in many countries, each journey and new location is harrowing and brutal.
Being a refugee without documentation put him at the mercy and cruelty of wherever he landed. Much of the story is on Manus Island and is a scathing expose' of Australian politics, their political agenda and 'generous amount of double speak" and where "greed and power collide and combine to destroy the powerless." This fact stunned and disturbed me... The Australian government invited just one security company to submit a tender, the companies address was a beach shack on Kangaroo Island with a PO Box in Singapore. They charged $433,000,000 for 22 months to maintain the processing facility (jail) on Manus. That is a fee of $1600 per day, per detainee, where the conditions were atrocious, no pillow, rancid food, no medical attention, no proper showers and even the drinking water would run out. The real cost was only $108 per person, giving the tender $17 million dollars profit every single month!
The author is a quiet, studious person, but the lengths of deception he went to, the risks he took and bravery he displayed, to fight for, and claim his freedom, while dealing with survivors' guilt, is astounding. And his network of helpers who risked their own freedom, was a vast and incredible hidden team, who were often strangers.
This story demonstrates the cruelty and power plays humans are capable of, and how we may have to take the reins of our life, work incredibly hard and push ourselves well outside our comfort zone, to give ourselves a future of freedom.
September 26, 2022
This was an interesting reading experience for many reasons - first I didn't know much about the genocide in Burma or the plight of refugees from Burma and elsewhere in PNG/Australia, so I found this read extremely education, and was depressed by what some people have to endure to get the same rights and freedoms that so many of us take for granted. On the actual reading side - I started out with a paperback copy of this book - my preferred book experience, but this is a popular book at my library and before I could finish it, it was due back without the option of renewal because of the list of folks waiting for it (fair enough). I didn't want to wait until it was available again (I would be 15th on the list, and thought by the time I got it again I would have certainly lost the flow of the book). I am not a fan of audio books (I am more of a visual person/learner than auditory), but managed to get my hands on an audio book version, and thought I would give it a try for the sake of keeping the flow of the book. My initial impression of the reading experience was that the book was quite well written, but was clearly not written by a seasoned author. Because I don't tend to like audio books I wasn't sure how it was going to impact my enjoyment of the second half of the book - I was pleasantly surprised that I actually think I enjoyed it more. I think the audio book experience really suited the conversational style of the book - I really felt like I was sitting down with Jaivet listening to him tell me about his experiences, and I let out some audible gasps and chuckles along the way. So from a non-auditory person, I would actually say that this is one book I would recommend as an audiobook preferentially. On the story side - despite being horrified at what this young man had to endure - I enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it!
July 3, 2022
What an incredible story! From the terror of danger as a Rohingya in Burma, having rights, freedom of movement and identity stripped away by the government, to the encroaching threat of genocide - fleeing to Indonesia, making that terrifying boat journey to Australia, after the first failure.
Arriving in Australia and being treated as a criminal, locked up, searched, and then trafficked to be held in a make-shift camp on Manus Island in PNG.
After enduring danger, the murder of his fellow detainee, the ongoing fear and oppression, this young man escapes! Undetected, through country to country, through block after challenge. With the help of friends, connections, his distant family, and complete strangers.
This records the experience and the truths, of the Australia detention regime. The arbitrary cruelty, the characters staffing the camps and bureaucracy, the corrupt gains supporting the system, and the political rhetoric that maintains it.
This reads like Catch Me If You Can, but with much higher, real stakes - a young man fleeing genocide and persecution, thrown into the indefinite detention of Australia's cruel policies, without medical care, adequate food or shelter, and without hope. A tale of incredible, risky escape.
A devastating loss for Australia, turning away people like this - and Canada's incredible gain.
Arriving in Australia and being treated as a criminal, locked up, searched, and then trafficked to be held in a make-shift camp on Manus Island in PNG.
After enduring danger, the murder of his fellow detainee, the ongoing fear and oppression, this young man escapes! Undetected, through country to country, through block after challenge. With the help of friends, connections, his distant family, and complete strangers.
This records the experience and the truths, of the Australia detention regime. The arbitrary cruelty, the characters staffing the camps and bureaucracy, the corrupt gains supporting the system, and the political rhetoric that maintains it.
This reads like Catch Me If You Can, but with much higher, real stakes - a young man fleeing genocide and persecution, thrown into the indefinite detention of Australia's cruel policies, without medical care, adequate food or shelter, and without hope. A tale of incredible, risky escape.
A devastating loss for Australia, turning away people like this - and Canada's incredible gain.
August 10, 2022
In a society that has gone through the horrors of genocide and the holocaust to the other extreme of holocaust deniers, it was difficult to read and realize that nothing has changed. Genocide, imprisonment, and torture, including government involvement, are happening in our world to this day. Where is the civilized world I thought we lived in? How can a government campaign for the execution of certain sects of its own population? I think I was most shocked that this is being carried out by Buddhists, who I believe to be peaceful and enlightened.
Javiet Ealom has allowed the world to see the atrocities that are occurring in our world. Where civilization should exist, he found genocide, terror, non-acceptance, brutality, and governments that showed a caring side to the world, but a dark, brutal, and murderous side to humans seeking a better life through asylum. His ability to tell this story in plain language that allowed the reader to experience what these asylum seekers experienced is a testament to his soul and need for change. When he could have sought revenge, he sought to change. Where he could have been bitter, he sought to understand the politics behind the terror and then work to change it.
This is a book that should be read by everyone. It's eye-opening, shocking, and screams about what happens when the world isn't watching and holding governments accountable.
Javiet Ealom has allowed the world to see the atrocities that are occurring in our world. Where civilization should exist, he found genocide, terror, non-acceptance, brutality, and governments that showed a caring side to the world, but a dark, brutal, and murderous side to humans seeking a better life through asylum. His ability to tell this story in plain language that allowed the reader to experience what these asylum seekers experienced is a testament to his soul and need for change. When he could have sought revenge, he sought to change. Where he could have been bitter, he sought to understand the politics behind the terror and then work to change it.
This is a book that should be read by everyone. It's eye-opening, shocking, and screams about what happens when the world isn't watching and holding governments accountable.
April 8, 2022
Best book of the year - but shocking!
I don't say this lightly, or often - but this was a book I simply couldn't put down. Jaivet Ealom, a Rohingyan man, escaped persecution and government genocide in his home of Burma, fled to Indonesia and from there was smuggled to Christmas Island, an Australian territory. Then the real horrors began.
The Australian government, far from living up to their Geneva Convention obligations to provide haven to refugees, instead built a torturous gulag on Manus Island, PNG to house Jaivet and other refugees who arrived by boat. Under armed guard, they were deprived of decent food, medical care, any semblance of comfort including a pillow, and left to wallow in their "sins" for having attempted to claim refugee status in Australia. This lasted some four years until Jaivet escaped Manus Island, in an astonishing journey that ultimately landed him safely in Canada, who welcomed him.
The book highlights the inhumane treatment afforded the poorest and most vulnerable in the world by Australia, one of the world's most wealthy countries. Reading this should cause any thoughtful Australian a moment of national shame.
The story telling and pacing of this book were superb. It kept me riveted the entire time.
I don't say this lightly, or often - but this was a book I simply couldn't put down. Jaivet Ealom, a Rohingyan man, escaped persecution and government genocide in his home of Burma, fled to Indonesia and from there was smuggled to Christmas Island, an Australian territory. Then the real horrors began.
The Australian government, far from living up to their Geneva Convention obligations to provide haven to refugees, instead built a torturous gulag on Manus Island, PNG to house Jaivet and other refugees who arrived by boat. Under armed guard, they were deprived of decent food, medical care, any semblance of comfort including a pillow, and left to wallow in their "sins" for having attempted to claim refugee status in Australia. This lasted some four years until Jaivet escaped Manus Island, in an astonishing journey that ultimately landed him safely in Canada, who welcomed him.
The book highlights the inhumane treatment afforded the poorest and most vulnerable in the world by Australia, one of the world's most wealthy countries. Reading this should cause any thoughtful Australian a moment of national shame.
The story telling and pacing of this book were superb. It kept me riveted the entire time.
September 3, 2022
The last decade or so has seen an escalation in the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar since the 1980s.Thanks to bleakest ever future facing him in his homeland, Jaivet Ealom, a 21 year old Myanmar Rohingyan, sneaked out of his country in 2013 in the hope of finding greener pastures, which at that point in time was Australia. In hindsight ,though his escapade turned fruitful, little did he know then that it would take him through 3 countries in as many as 7 countries that would also consume close to 5 years of his prime youth, majority of which he would spend in incarceration in Manus Island, a refugee processing center in Papua New Guinea, deprived of barest of the human necessities, stateless, hopeless,that would also push him to a failed suicide attempt and perpetual post trauma stress bestowed on him.
His eventual daring escape from Manus island in itself was remarkable for it took laborious detailing and planning akin to "Prison break" as how he puts it, connecting the dots, at times pure fluke and supported by some very good humans that took 6 months to fruition.
Breathtaking is an understatement to define this incredible escape to freedom.
His eventual daring escape from Manus island in itself was remarkable for it took laborious detailing and planning akin to "Prison break" as how he puts it, connecting the dots, at times pure fluke and supported by some very good humans that took 6 months to fruition.
Breathtaking is an understatement to define this incredible escape to freedom.
September 7, 2022
Just finished reading "Escape from Manus Prison" by Jaivet Ealom.
Powerful, heartbreaking, mind-numbing the evils and greed of power-hungry human beings who rob others of their right to life. Jaivet is an incredibly brave, genius young man,. He has turned his horrors into literature and sent a message to the world to raise awareness of the atrocities that have been hidden for so long to so many. Behrooz Boochani wrote his story ("No Friends but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison) and raised awareness.
Now there is Jaivet's story. To all those who have worked so hard to support people like Jaivet and Behrooz and so many more, I say Thank You! for bringing them to safety so that they can tell their stories and to enable them to help others not yet so fortunate. From Jaivet's epilogue, "A single person can make a difference through the smallest act of goodness, because small actions can come together to make great ones."
Powerful, heartbreaking, mind-numbing the evils and greed of power-hungry human beings who rob others of their right to life. Jaivet is an incredibly brave, genius young man,. He has turned his horrors into literature and sent a message to the world to raise awareness of the atrocities that have been hidden for so long to so many. Behrooz Boochani wrote his story ("No Friends but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison) and raised awareness.
Now there is Jaivet's story. To all those who have worked so hard to support people like Jaivet and Behrooz and so many more, I say Thank You! for bringing them to safety so that they can tell their stories and to enable them to help others not yet so fortunate. From Jaivet's epilogue, "A single person can make a difference through the smallest act of goodness, because small actions can come together to make great ones."
January 11, 2023
This is amazing documentary of Jaivet Ealom imprisonment at Manus. He is the only detainee that has ever escaped to freedom. His revelations of the treatment received at the hands of the PNG government and supported by Australia, is shameful. The Australian press was disgraceful in the manner in which they brainwashed Australians. All owned by Rupert Murdoch. He is scathing of Australian politicians, especially Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton. He does claim that the only political party that truely supports refugees is the Green Party. This book is an eye opener to what I thought was going on with refugees - As a citizen of Australia I was duped. Australia spent millions giving contracts to private companies and PNG to build and run Manus detainee centre and other centres, built after Manus. Australia was also spending money to train and support Burma’s new junta while the genocide of Rohingyas continued
January 2, 2024
Devastating and damning. Our country's terrible, wanton cruelty laid bare.
I was about 10 when I first read Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman and was bewildered to learn how we treated refugees, but especially to watch these policies continue, unchanged except to double down. Over 20 years later, and very little has changed through different governments and various iterations of onshore and offshore processing. The collusion of politicians and media continues to shape public views around refugees infavourably. Jaivet rightly compares us with his own country's rulers. His courage and perseverance are extraordinary, but he shouldn't have had such need of them under Australian governance. When he at last finds safe haven on the other side of the world, the kindness and support he receives is bitterly in contrast with our response to his need. It was our treatment of refugees that first showed me what Australia really is. This book adds bravely to the shameful evidence.
I was about 10 when I first read Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman and was bewildered to learn how we treated refugees, but especially to watch these policies continue, unchanged except to double down. Over 20 years later, and very little has changed through different governments and various iterations of onshore and offshore processing. The collusion of politicians and media continues to shape public views around refugees infavourably. Jaivet rightly compares us with his own country's rulers. His courage and perseverance are extraordinary, but he shouldn't have had such need of them under Australian governance. When he at last finds safe haven on the other side of the world, the kindness and support he receives is bitterly in contrast with our response to his need. It was our treatment of refugees that first showed me what Australia really is. This book adds bravely to the shameful evidence.
April 28, 2025
I found this book deep and informative. Through telling his story and the story of others who got trapped in Australia's offshore detention system Jaivet does an incredible job of humanizing the victims of this system for an audience that is relatively used to ignoring them. Jaivet's storytelling had my attention the entire time, and what struck me most about his narrative was how relatable I found him, despite our having so many differences. I guess that is his special power: to unite and humanize. One I enjoyed in the novel was the concept of a network of helpers, which I found inspired me to think of ways I could be a "helper" in my life. I also found novel and compelling the idea that according to a merit based logic, those who had made it all the way from their countries to Manus Island were probably among the brightest, most resourceful people their countries had to offer because otherwise they wouldn't have gotten that far.
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