Australian Story Monday 16 July ABC1

Warne forms great partnership with teenage refugee
Christine Sams
Sun-Herald July 15, 2012



HE WAS an asylum seeker on a leaking boat intercepted near Christmas Island. But now 17-year-old Jaffar Ali counts Shane Warne among his high-profile supporters, after three years living in Australia.

Warne has entered the refugee debate by voicing his support for the teenage boy whose story of survival has inspired an episode of the ABC1 series, Australian Story.

It comes after a heated debate between major political parties ended in parliamentary deadlock over how to process asylum seekers arriving on boats.


Warne agreed to record a televised introduction for the story of Jaffar because he compared the boy's harrowing experiences with the privileged life of his teenage son, Jackson. Jaffar's older brother and sister were killed by Taliban in Afghanistan before his family fled to Pakistan.

‘Meeting Jaffar Ali, who was 14 when his family sent him off alone [from Afghanistan] to try and find a safer place to live, I couldn't help but think of my own son, who had celebrated his 13th birthday just the day before,’ Warne said.

‘The contrast in those two boys' lives is huge and what Jaffar has experienced in his 17 years is very sad. But the Jaffar that stood before me was a very bright teenager who loved school and loved his cricket. We made a pact to hit a few balls together this Australian summer.’

Warne's meeting with Jaffar signifies a humanitarian touch from the famed cricketer who did not hesitate to show his support for the teenager.

Jaffar's story involves a chance meeting in an Indonesian detention centre with Melbourne barrister Jessie Taylor. She gave him her mobile phone number in case he made it to Australia.

The teenager was later picked up by authorities on a boat near Christmas Island but he never let go of the phone number. He lodged a formal application for refugee status and when he was granted permanent protection, Ms Taylor was appointed as his full-time carer and foster mother.

The episode featuring Warne airs tomorrow night on ABC1.