Communication (Journalism) Honours Thesis at Deakin University, Australia Faculty of Arts and Education June

Australia is not Utopia for Iranian exiled journalists 
As all this makes clear, Australia is not a Utopia for Iranian exiled journalists. Not only is it a 
long way from Iran and its neighbouring countries (where Iranian-exiled dissidents usually 
meet their families), but there is no dissident Farsi TV and radio channel in Australia.
Furthermore, people seeking asylum are detained in refugee camps for an indefinite length of 
time in very poor conditions.
When Iranian journalists recognise that they have no chance to live in peace inside the country, 
they chose to flee. Many flee to a neighbouring country first such as Turkey or the United Arab 
Emirates where the border is able to be crossed. Their next preferred choice is countries such 
as Indonesia where the visa requirements are minimal or nil. From there, they register as 
refugees with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; however, the process for 
resettlement in a third country is long and in the uncertain time. Some of them have no choice 
but to wait for years, living off savings. 
‘Even after a journalist has successfully registered as 
a refugee, the resettlement interview is often one or two years in the future
’(Committee to 
Protect Journalists, 
‘Forced to Flee: A timeline of journalists' flight into exile’).
Another option is to travel to Australia by boat but this is dangerous. Hundreds of refugees 
have died trying to cross the ocean to Australia (Kenny M, 2015, The Conversation,
 
‘
FactCheck: did 1200 refugees die at sea under 
Labor?’ March 3). Only a few Iranian 

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Wasted Lives 21 
journalists have tried undertaking this journey to Australia. However, to my knowledge, only 
Behrouz Boochani and I - who are subjects of this study 
– have done so.
All in all, seeking asylum in Australia for Iranian journalists is challenging as after their hard 
life in Iran as a dissident journalist, they also experience an uncertain period of the time inside 
the refugee camps; as previously noted, Behrouz Boochani has been kept there for more than 
six years. Moreover, after being released from the refugee camps, these journalists cannot 
easily continue their career as a journalist because in Australia there is no Farsi language media.
Furthermore, learning English at a very high level is required for journalists, which is also a 
very difficult challenge.