SUVA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Fiji announced Friday that it has deported an Iranian refugee who entered into Fiji on a Papua New Guinea passport obtained by fraudulent means.
Loghman Sawari, 21, who entered Fiji 10 days ago from Papua New Guinea, where he had been granted refugee status, was sent back on Friday by Fijian immigration officials, Fiji's Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum confirmed in a statement.
Sawari claims to be a refugee but did not present himself as a refugee seeking asylum to immigration officials on arrival in Fiji, and he did not lodge an application for asylum personally or through his lawyer during the 10 days since his arrival, according to Sayed-Khaiyum.
Fijian authorities have been informed by their Papua New Guinean counterparts that Sawari's Papua New Guinea passport was obtained by fraudulent means.
"The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has advised Fiji that Sawari is not recognized as a refugee under the UNHCR mandate. It has further advised that he is a refugee recognized by Papua New Guinea under its national procedures. So Fiji has merely returned Sawari to his rightful place of residence," Sayed-Khaiyum said.
Sawari eluded the authorities during his 10 days in Fiji while posting photographs of himself on social media at various locations, according to Sayed-Khaiyum.
Fiji is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.
"Fiji remains fully committed to the Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, but we cannot tolerate a situation in which a person who is not an asylum seeker and who has already been granted refugee status in another country flagrantly violates the law," the Fijian attorney-general said.
