ABDULLATIF, MAY 2016, MANUS ISLAND, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Iraqi asylum seeker Abdullatif Almoftaji, shows the scars of a beating by Manus Island PNG security guards and police.

Abdullatif was 17 when incarcerated on Manus Island by Australia in 2012. He was later allowed to work in PNG in the city of Lae. There he was beaten by locals, paid little and feared for his life. He returned to Manus preferring the perceived relative safety of the detention centre and other asylum seekers.
However, following a drunken escapade on the local brew ‘steam’, Abdullatif was arrested, beaten and thrown into a Manus police cell where I found him wearing just torn shorts. Abdullatif faced several charges and was soon deported back to Iraq by Australian authorities.

"I still keep in touch with Abdullatif. When I last heard he was back in war torn Basra Iraq, an experience he described as “living in hell”. “There is nothing in Basra, only destruction, problems and killing for everything.” he said"

Biography:
Born in London, Brian nagged his parents for his first camera, priced at two shillings and sixpence, when he was eleven years old. That was the catalyst for a decades’ long career as a freelance photojournalist initially in the UK and now based in Cairns, Australia. He learned by experience, never having worked as a newspaper staffer. Brian has worked extensively for numerous newspapers, magazines and wires in Australia and internationally. Brian won the Australian Sports Photo of the Year (1985) and many others including a Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize and was a finalist in the Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year.