Nara Walker: the Australian woman suing Iceland

Here, though, the stories diverged dramatically.

This was the moment the human rights court became, for her, a sort of north star.

Walker hopes a win at the ECHR could have a significant impact in Iceland and across Europe, given the supranational nature of the court. Icelandic authorities told the Guardian it would not comment before presenting its position to the ECHR later this month.

The case is one of the final things tying her to life in Europe. Late last year, she was finally able to secure a seat on an Australian government repatriation flight, though it was a bittersweet return. She was too late to say goodbye to her stepfather, who passed away in September 2021.

Yet when she caught sight of the red-brown landscape of Australia as her flight came to land in Darwin, she knew she was home.