Escape From West Papua

What would drive 43 refugees to set out from West Papua in a traditional canoe across stormy Torres Strait to reach Australia? Only desperation. This book is their story. It tells their dramatic tale – why they left, how they survived at sea, and how their faith sustained them. It also recounts the rift in Australian–Indonesian relations that arose when they received refugee status in Australia and voices their hopes and dreams of an independent West Papua nation.

Canon Alan Nichols, AM, is an Anglican minister and author. He served for seven years in refugee work, first in Thailand with the Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific, and then with World Vision Australia. He was present at the Rwanda border during the 1994 genocide, is a Trustee of the Barakabaho Foundation, a foster care agency there, and is a Canon of St John’s Cathedral, Gahini, in Rwanda.