Transcript
[music plays]
That's the song recorded in 2014 by prominent Australians including actors calling for the release of child refugees detained by Australia on Nauru.
But when Australian actors were asked to comment on a 32-year-old performer detained by Australia on Manus Island, none came forward, which the New Zealand actor Oscar Kightley agrees is hard to understand.
BRD: It seems a bit strange really considering...
OK: Strange because it's their union, mate. If you're unwilling to comment it's because you're scared about something. But I don't know what they'd be scared of. I don't know what the consequences would be.
Oscar Kightley has been outspoken in New Zealand media decrying Australia's four year detention of refugees in prison camps on Nauru and Manus Island.
Well known for his recent role in the movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Mr Kightley was happy to voice his support for Mehdi Savari, an actor, troubadour, magician and comedian, who used to host a popular children's television programme in Iran.
"I guess I feel for him as a fellow actor and artist, who's chosen to perform in terms of his way of living life and communicating what he's about as a human. It's sad to see him caught up in that really. He sounds amazing and, gosh, maybe we could even use him in New Zealand."
The Australian author and refugee advocate Arnold Zable says Mehdi Savari is an Awazi Arab, a persecuted minority in Iran.
"In Manus, after the murder of Reza Berati when the men were in deep despair, he began to perform to lift their spirits. You know he suffers from dwarfism, he's only a metre tall. It's very difficult at the best of times to be incarcerated in a detention centre but for someone of his stature it's extremely difficult and quite humiliating."
From hospital in Port Moresby the 32-year-old Mehdi Savari says he's suffering from paralysis.
"Currently I am in Port Moresby where after four years I have finally saved enough money to buy myself a wheelchair. I am here because of my eye infection and serious gastric problems for which I take daily medication.
"The emotion trauma I've experienced and the physical hardships I've endured living on Manus Island have resulted in the breakdown of my mental health and are the reason why I am in this situation on Port Moresby."
The campaign also appeals for the release of the Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani and the award winning cartoonist from Iran known as Eaten Fish.
Arnold Zable says Mr Boochani is working tirelessly to expose human rights violations perpetrated by Australia.
"He's baring witness in many forms. He's known in the camp as the reporter. He's working up to 18 hours a day, sending out articles and features that are published both internationally and in the Australian press. The Huffington Post even New York Times recently had a video diary of his. So he's tireless in his work and as a result he's valued by the international journalistic community."
The Guardian cartoonist Andrew Marlton says Eaten Fish would be an asset to Australia.
"He's got a very rye way of looking at the world and he's got a perspective that not many people do considering where he's come from and what he's seen. Getting him here and getting him into an arts school and getting him working as a cartoonist is in every bodies' best interests."
Oscar Kightley says the three men could make Australia a better place.
"They fled a place because of what they did for a job and they're able to write about these things and have a perspective that journalists and cartoonists and even actors in Australia don't have because they come from countries that were torn apart. They can absolutely add to the story telling that stops that sort of thing from spreading."
Mr Kightley says all the refugees detained offshore have something to offer Australia.
