From Afghanistan to Aotearoa – Abbas Nazari shares his journey

Abbas Nazari, a former Afghan refugee who fled the Taliban in 2001, will do a small tour of Queenstown and Wanaka in early November to tell his story and talk about his book, After the Tampa. The book is an autobiographical memoir about Abbas’ family’s journey from Afghanistan to New Zealand and was written during the 2020 lockdown.
Abbas and his family arrived in Aotearoa when he was eight years old. Their travel here was treacherous – they were a few of more than 400 asylum seekers rescued by a Norwegian container ship by the name of the MV Tampa. The family’s ship was found in the Indian Ocean enroute to Australia. His family was denied asylum and held offshore for weeks – after this they were eventually resettled in New Zealand.
“There was no real plan. The goal was just to get out of Afghanistan because it wasn’t safe for us. Gradually, over time, after living in a refugee camp in Pakistan we realised that the only place that might give us a better life would be Australia, and seeking asylum there. It was actually on our attempt to seek asylum in Australia that the Tampa affair happened, and we ended up in New Zealand. The New Zealand government chose to resettle us and give us a chance at a new life.
“I’ve been back twice in 2012 and 2017 – both times were incredibly eye-opening experiences for me. I write about them in the book, about what it was like to go back. New Zealand is home, but the cultural connections of our country are pretty strong for me,” says Abbas.
The book is written as a first-person account – Abbas’ perspective as a young boy. It covers three main parts of his life, the first being his life and memories growing up in a small village in Afghanistan. The second part is about the family’s fleeing of the Taliban and the journey to find a new life somewhere else. The final part is about what it’s been like for Abbas to grow up, begin a new life and settle in New Zealand. “It’s been incredibly humbling to see the response that the book has received,” he says.
Abbas really loves sharing his story and the opportunities he’s had since releasing the book. After each talk he stays back to talk to others and shares stories.
“I always stick around and make sure I have a chat with people, and to be honest, that’s the best part. So many people come up to me and they talk about their personal connections to Afghanistan – whether they travelled there on the old hippie route during the 60s and 70s, they volunteered with an aid agency, or where their sons or daughters have served in the New Zealand Defence Force. It’s pretty awesome to see that, despite how far away we are geographically. It astounds me how, regardless of where I am in New Zealand, there’s always one or two people who have a very close connection to Afghanistan,” says Abbas.
Queenstown and Central Otago are one of his favourite parts of the world. Now living in Wellington, he grew up in Christchurch and would take every opportunity to come visit these parts. “The climate, the geography, the people, the kind of rural setting – it’s all incredibly similar to my village in Afghanistan.”