Pacific Solution DVD Viewing at Romero Centre

The remarkable story of "the Tampa boys", young Afghani refugees who were rescued off the coast of Australia by the MV Tampa, the new home they found in New Zealand, and the remarkable quest of their families to join them. Through the prism of their journey, this intimate documentary examines the political context, and the looming refugee crisis facing our world.

Pacific Solution follows the lives of a number of Afghani boys, now living in New Zealand, who are reunited with family members from their homeland.

The boys, travelling alone and escaping the brutality of the Taliban, had been rescued from an overcrowded sinking boat by the Tampa, a Norwegian freighter.

They were refused access to the normal refugee process by John Howard, the Australian PM and the crisis became a stand-off. Finally, New Zealand agreed to take the boys and family groups, while the men over 18 were effectively warehoused on the impoverished Pacific island of Nauru. Under NZ law, the boys, after being granted refugee status, were allowed to ask their families join them.

The film traces this history, then shows a group of New Zealand immigration officials departing for Afghanistan and Iran to assess the residency eligibility of family members who, often scattered by the effects of war, are tracked down and assessed.

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