"Run ends for Woomera's last escapee"
[Andra Jackson, The Age, October 2, 2004]
In hiding since 2002, Ali anonymously lived and worked in Melbourne. To the staff at a Lygon Street restaurant, "Ali" was the popular kitchen hand who had put in long hours over the past 13 months.
But to his close friends and supporters, Ali was an alias for one of 10 asylum seekers who remained at large after a mass escape from the Woomera detention centre at Easter 2002.
For two-and-a-half years, the 24-year-old Afghan has been able to live openly in the community thanks to an underground network of supporters. He went to rock concerts and attended peace rallies. His favourite haunt was a club in Brunswick, where he would play pool and go dancing.
But as he washed dishes at the restaurant one night recently, Ali's two worlds collided. At 10, eight men in suits threaded their way past diners and staff to the kitchen, where they challenged his identity. Ali denied he was the man they named. The men left and Ali kept on working.
