The People Smuggler: The True Story Of Ali Al Jenabi, The 'Oskar Schindler Of Asia'

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The People Smuggler: The True Story Of Ali Al Jenabi, The 'Oskar Schindler Of Asia'

4.28 of 5 stars 4.28 · rating details · 170 ratings · 42 reviews

After his father, brother and he were incarcerated and tortured in Saddam's Abu Ghraib, Ali al Jenabi escaped from Iraq first to work with the anti-Saddam resistance in Iran and then to help his family out of the country all together. When Saddam's forces advance towards their refugee camp, Ali helps his family flee into Iran before going on in an attempt to get to Austral...more

Paperback, 336 pages

Published April 26th 2012 by Viking Australia

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Nov 17, 2012 Tammy Lee rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book. It moved me to anger, passion, tears and frustration. I never really understood what happened under Saddam Husseins reign when America first invaded in the 90's but this book helped me to understand what he did to the people, the role America played during the first and second invasions. It also gave me a different perspective on the life of Asylum Seekers and people smugglers. This man is a hero and has endured a fascinating yet heart wrenching life. I am glad he now lives in...more

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Jul 22, 2012 Sophie Dunning rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book should be compulsory reading for all Australians, in order for the general public to understand the plight of people smugglers and asylum seekers. Robin De Crespigny has done a wonderful job in translating Ali's experiences into a story that is easy to read and genuinely moving. Ali is a rare character in any type of fiction or non-fiction: selfless and moral. His story is profoundly touching, and will have you on the edge of your seat. Be aware that the contents are graphic and relent...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian, auto-biographical, civil-rights, historical-reference, war, political

It was a good book. Written by De Crespigny but from Al Jenabi's perspective. The book tells the story of his life. The perils, the ups the downs, the good and bad and the struggle to give his family a brighter future away from the dictatorship of Saddam. It is sad and there were moments where I was very close to tears. Towards the end of the book I felt a great deal of anger towards the Australian Government and their overwhelming desire to stick to their version of the truth. No matter what ve...more

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Nov 28, 2012 Richard Bean rated it 5 of 5 stars

A tour de force ... I was just walking through West End in Brisbane down Boundary St a few weeks ago when I saw a poster on the traffic light at the Boundary / Vulture St intersection about this book, which was the first time I heard about it. Then I walked a bit further and there was a bookshop with a sign set up promoting the book, and an audience and the author answering questions about the book. I was going to go to a dance class but it seemed all too interesting. An Iraqi guy said he spent...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Gabrielle Trenbath rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is an amazing book that not only because it was such a unique story of a life so different to my own but a book written in such away that, for the first third, you almost get detached from the the horrors depicted in the book.

I found it to beautifully written book for maybe the first third of the book, especially in regards to how flashbacks of Ali Al Jenabi's happy childhood and family prior to Saddam Hussain's dictatorship were intertwined with the torture chambers.

The People Smuggler b...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Yuko rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am glad to have read this book - even if it is a personal story of just one person and his family. To know what it was like under Saddam, to understand how refugees may survive, and how they may be driven to get on those boats in search of freedom and peace, and how someone like Ali had ended being a people smuggler. Majority of Australians - and politicians - are so scared of the boat people and how they may flood the country and take up the resources. Why do we believe it when we hear on the...more

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May 12, 2013 Kerri rated it 5 of 5 stars

As many people have stated in other reviews, I too believe this book should be compulsory reading for all Australians, in order for the general public to understand the plight of people smugglers and asylum seekers. Ali's experiences are described wonderfully through Robin De Crespigny's words. He doesn't romantisize or exaggerate to "sell" Ali's story, it is just put together simply making it easy reading yet equally moving. a story that is easy to read and genuinely moving. The story is touchi...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Bree T rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: iraq, issues, non-fiction

Ali Al Jenabi was born in Iraq. His father was tortured by Saddamn Hussein’s Baathist Party and Ali himself was captured, tortured and held prisoner for years. His younger brother was captured with him and tortured, believed murdered and two more brothers were also taken prisoner. When he is forced to flee the country, he leaves behind his family in Iraq and from then on, everything that he does is in order to get his family out.

Firstly they go to neighbouring Iran, which having been involved in...more Ali Al Jenabi was born in Iraq. His father was tortured by Saddamn Hussein’s Baathist Party and Ali himself was captured, tortured and held prisoner for years. His younger brother was captured with him and tortured, believed murdered and two more brothers were also taken prisoner. When he is forced to flee the country, he leaves behind his family in Iraq and from then on, everything that he does is in order to get his family out.

Firstly they go to neighbouring Iran, which having been involved in a war with Hussein for years, is now a prime place for Iraqi refugees to flee. From there they head to Turkey but several times Al Janabi is captured and returned. Finally he makes his way to Asia where through contacts, he begins assisting Middle Eastern refugees, primarily Iraqis, get to Australia.

For many in the Middle East, Australia is the promised land. Few know more about it other than it’s extremely far away, it’s a Democracy, it’s an island and it has weird animals. For many, it is their hope and their dream, to get there. But in the late 1990′s and early 2000s, in the time of the Howard government, the country was closing its borders to refugees. Boats were turned back. If they made it to Australian soil, the people were herded into detention centres where they could remain for years while being processed.

Ali successfully sent seven boats to Australia filled with refugees. Not one of them was lost and all landed safely and had the people processed. Everything he did, every risk he took, every dollar he took from an asylum seeker was so that he could get his own family to Australia – his mother and his brothers and sisters. But the Australian Federal Police had been watching him for some time and when he left Indonesia, where people smuggling is not a crime, they pounced.

Brought to Australia for trial, the prosecutors attempted to paint a picture of a man smuggling for profit. Instead Ali Al Jenabi became known as a figure of hope, of loyalty and of kindness. The amounts of money he often took to get men, women and children to Australia were pitiful. He went above and beyond to ensure the safety and security of the boats, to make sure that there was enough food. He became known as the “Oskar Schindler of Asia”, helping a persecuted people find a better life.

But what he did was still illegal…and even to this day, Ali Al Jenabi waits for a visa.

This is another Stella Prize longlisted book – a non-fiction story of a man whose situation was desperate. Forced at a young age to become man of the house and provide for his family when his father was taken prisoner, Ali Al Janabi was groomed from a young age to have the answer. He continually risked everything to get his family to safety – first out of Iraq, then to Asia and finally to their ultimate destination, Australia.

As a young adult of the Howard regime, I remember all too clearly the beat up over the boats and the Tampa crisis and not to mention the children overboard fiasco. In Australia, you are taught to fear the boats, to hate the boats, to not want the boats anywhere near this country. They are queue jumpers, they are illegals, they are probably not even genuinely in danger. They’re coming to take our jobs, our homes and … whatever else we have here. Soon we’ll all be Muslims and forced to wear headscarves. And the people that risk their lives bringing them here, are to quote former PM Kevin Rudd, “scum”.

To everyone that thinks that, I beg of you, read this book. This book should be mandatory reading for every Australian school student. It should help provide the one thing that the government does not: the other side. That not everyone who takes a passage on these boats is rich, and buying their way through. That not everyone who is helping them get here is money grabbing scum. Sometimes they are just people like Ali Al Janabi – trying to do the right thing for their family, trying to get them to somewhere where they believe they will be safe. Unfortunately, what often happens to people when they finally arrive in The Lucky Country is not what they dream of. The fact that Australia did not respond to Al Janabi’s application for a protection visa for over twelve months when the law is 90 days is shameful. The fact that they applied for protection through the UN in Pakistan before Al Janabi went to Asia and were turned down is mind-boggling. They’d had members of their family imprisoned, tortured and murdered. And yet when Al Janabi’s mother and siblings arrived on one of his boats to Australia, when they were processed they were deemed to be genuine refugees and given visas. So how can the same family be denied once, at the height of the Iraqi situation while Hussein was still cheerfully murdering and invading his way throughout everywhere, but then be accepted later on? The process failed them all, the organisations failed them all and if it weren’t for the risk taking and ingenuity of Ali Al Janabi, I cannot even begin to think what might have happened to them.

I was too young to really remember the first Gulf War and what Saddam Hussein was doing to the people of Iraq, Iran and Kuwait. The more I try and read about it, the more of a mess it seems to me. You can’t give a person like Hussein billions of dollars to fight one war and expect that he isn’t going to look for another one. People like that are power hungry and see whatever is nearby as theirs. And you can’t encourage rebels to rise up against such a person but not give them a single ounce of support, either.

This is a truly brilliant book. It’s written with understanding and compassion, sympathy and even humour. That someone can experience something so bleak and come out of it still enjoying life the way he is, the way he is trying to, is a triumph for Ali Al Janabi. As of the end of this book (and now, I believe) the current state of his visa is still uncertain. He was finally issued a temporary protection visa, which means that when Iraq is considered stable again, he will be deported. Almost all of his family now live here and to deport someone who has been through what he has been through, would really be a crime against humanity. Three Ministers For Immigration have rejected his application for a visa and to be honest, if the Coalition win the election in September like the media keeps telling me they will, I don’t hold out much hope for him when he applies to a fourth.

The world needs more people like this man.(less)

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Aug 12, 2012 Emily added it

I'm not going to rate this book, because I don't want to undermine the epic that is Ali Al Jenabi's story with stars that dictate whether or not I "liked" it.

This book was amazing. The tale was incredible. But, I didn't like it. The fact that all the hell Ali and his family was 100% true outraged me and shook my morals to the core. I wanted to lapse into the comfort that it was fictional and that these were just narrative devices to keep the plot exciting and the reader in suspense: but no. And...more

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Jan 24, 2013 Natasha Constantinou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: recently-read

One of the most amazing stories ever read and ever written. Ali Al Jenabi is truly the Oskar Shindler of our time. The things he's been through and has seen just astounds me, and the fact that he still kept going and was still thinking about his family's safety throughout the terrifying ordeals faced in his life.
I can not get over the fact that he still remains in jail and isn't a free man in Australia. He has done nothing wrong in my eyes.
An amazing man, he deserves to be free and live a norma...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

OMG - what an eye-opener this book was. My husband couldn't believe I actually read the book. It certainly makes me appreciate growing up in the Western society. It's hard to believe that people are treated so cruelly and inhumanely in this day and age! No wonder there are so many boat people trying to escape their home countries in search of a better life. To get beaten just for listening to music and seeing your sibling and/or parents murdered in front of you, I cannot begin to understand how...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Anita rated it 5 of 5 stars

heart breaking, insightful and so well written that I feel I have just spent several days in the company of Ali Al Jenabi telling me about his life. His determination in the face of unimaginable horrors and repeated setbacks is nothing short of astonishing. The author has done an amazing thing to document and share his story so that we can all be a little more understanding of the desperate situations that drive people to leave behind everything and everyone they know and love in the pursuit of...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Michele Davis rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book, Robin de Crespigny shows us that Ali al Jenabi is not just a people smuggler , but how he spent so much of his life trying to improve the lot of his family. She tells his story with such compassion , the story of his whole family, and how Saddams regime brought such devastation to their lives. He never stops trying to bring his family to safety, and had so many setbacks along the way, to just get back up again. I wish him well.

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Jan 08, 2013 Maddi rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fantastic yet overwhelming story that shows the incredible lengths some people will go to for the safety of their family. Ali is such a strong and courageous character but doesn't fail to have a kind heart.
Another thing I like about this book is being able to see the perspective that the Australian government have on people smugglers and boat people. It saddens me to be introduced to their lack or trust and empathy towards such heroic people.
Anyway, this book was a great read and is somethin...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Richard Condie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a very moving book, dealing with a very topical issue. Torture in Iraq, the refugee highway and all its associated dramas and dangers, and then people smuggling, fishing boats, and the shameful treatment of refugees in Australian detention. It will make you want to weep, write letters to the government, campaign for refugees, and pray for those who suffered in Iraq. I couldn't put this book down. If you care about refugees in Australia then read this book.

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Dec 14, 2012 Dino Asproloupos rated it 5 of 5 stars

Took me 3 times to get past the graphic recollection of his experiences in Iraqi prison, but glad I came back to read this. It's time for Australians (all) to assess their attitudes / assumptions & biases towards refugees, asylum seekers & people smugglers. This book puts faces to the nameless men, women & children who are fleeing situations most of us will (hopefully) never experience.

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Apr 02, 2013 Marie Stuart rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book to be interesting and inspiring. Yes very gruesome at times but this is the reality of the situation. The book gave me insight into the steps that are taken for freedom both political and more importantly freedom from violence. This is a must read for those interested in learning more about asylum seekers trying to get to Australia.

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Aug 27, 2012 Lagrace Nua rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think this man not only endured alot of trauma yet he also developed a high level of survival instincts and maintaining his mindset of getting his family to australia and also othger famillies who has depended on him for their freedom, Im so inspired by his story of courage and leadership this story is truly amazing!

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Sep 24, 2012 Julie Davies rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was an amazing book of self preservation and survival. What this man went through, and did, to get a "better life" for his family blew my mind.

It hasn't changed the way I feel about "boat people", "people smugglers" and "illegal immigrants" but it has shown me what some of these people are running from.

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Apr 13, 2013 Jasmine Berry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Such an important book. To know the background, the huge backstory, to why someone would become a people smuggler, was so powerful. This man is a hero for the lives that he saved. This openend my mind to the complexities of life for people coming from countries that have experienced war.

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Oct 02, 2012 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good read. So much heartbreak that is just unnecessary. I definitely feel sorry for anyone escaping their country and coming to Oz by boat, we should all have a bigger heart when it comes to these people. The media needs to stop glamourising the boat people. Sure there are a lot of unscrupulous people making a quick buck, but these smugglers aren't exactly living like kings either, definitely no where near middle class australia anyway. Ali is an inspiration.

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Apr 11, 2013 Sonia Nair rated it 5 of 5 stars

A spectacular book and an incredibly important account, given how asylum seekers are the equivalent of a bipartisan punching bag. The book is bound to incite anger, despair and disillusionment at the way that we currently treat the asylum seekers who flee desperate situations for a chance at a new life on our shores.

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Jan 11, 2013 Fiona rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is such an excellent book. A true story told in the first person.
I think it should be compulsory reading for all Australians to give them abetter idea of what Iraqis are fleeing from, that there is no queue to jump, that these refugees are desparate and need our compassion and not detention centres.

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Apr 16, 2013 Michelle Saleeba is currently reading it

Half way through - however I would say definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the asylum seeker/people smuggler "debate" (cough)

***very graphic and confronting torture scenes described.

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Sep 11, 2012 Maryann rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 13, 2013 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another book club read - this one created plenty of lively discussions witin the group. As a read it was interesting, but not particularly well written.

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Dec 31, 2012 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

Absolutely amazing book. Heartbreaking, to understand the dangers of Iraq, and what may lead people to seek asylum in Australia, no matter the pathway.

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Feb 09, 2013 Ann Kerley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Amazing story of love, desperation and courage-brings to life the horror of those in need of asylum and the lives affected by tragic outcomes.

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Jul 22, 2012 Virginia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Gives a very different perspective on what we hear about people smugglers and asylum seekers from politicians and the media

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Mar 11, 2013 James Tierney rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: stella-prize-2013-longlist

This book's certainty and unmodulated voice is less of a challenge to prevailing attitudes on 'people smugglers' than it imagines.

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