Journalist held for 6 years gains New Zealand refugee status

A journalist who fled Iran and then exposed Australia's degrading treatment of asylum-seekers while being held against his will for six years has been granted refugee status in New Zealand. Immigration New Zealand on Friday confirmed that Behrouz Boochani had been given the status, which allows him to legally stay in the country and gives him a path to citizenship. While the numbers of asylum-seekers being held in offshore detention camps by Australia has been significantly reduced over the years, Boochani said there are still hundreds being kept in limbo on the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea, as well as within Australia.

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