Becoming Australian: From orphaned South Sudanese refugee to Darwin law student

John Ayiik was just four years old when soldiers arrived in his dusty Sudanese village and started killing people around him in a now unforgettable sequence.

"There was massacre, gunfire, gunshots and killing," Mr Ayiik said.

"I lost friends and relatives. I lost mum first and then I lost dad, then I lost all of my brothers."

Two decades later, Mr Ayiik is on the verge of graduating from a law degree at Charles Darwin University and, on Tuesday, will become an Australian citizen at an Australia Day ceremony in suburban Darwin.

"To [come] from the remote parts of the third world to the highest levels of the first world to be a law student is a great privilege," he said.

Mr Ayiik was born in the southern parts of then-Sudan — a Christian-dominated region declared as an independent nation, South Sudan, in 2011 after decades of conflict with the Muslim-dominated north.

He fled his village amid the massacre that made him an orphan.

Mr Ayiik counts himself as one of the lucky ones who eventually made it to a Kenyan refugee camp.

Other survivors were not so fortunate, including Deng Thiak Adut, another South Sudanese lawyer and Australian success story who was snatched from his mother during the region's conflict and forced to fight as a child soldier^[2].

"Thank god that they didn't abduct me," Mr Ayiik said.

After arriving in the refugee camp in the '90s, Mr Ayiik spent many years simply focused on survival, before being resettled as a refugee in Australia in 2009 with help from the United Nations.

He then began his law degree in Darwin, and now has just three units to go before graduating.

Mr Ayiik hopes to then start a Juris Doctor, which would allow him to practice as a lawyer.

"It's a great privilege for me and a first for my family," he said.

"The rest of my brothers, they never went to school and then they got killed.

"My sisters never learned to write. I'm the only one that had this opportunity.

"I thank the Australian people and the hospitality of the people of Darwin to study at Charles Darwin University."

Since arriving in Australia, Mr Ayiik has been granted permanent residency, however he decided to become a citizen this Australia Day to cement his new life and hopefully make it easier to find employment.

"I want to choose to be Australian," he said.

"I feel honoured. I feel there is recognition in Australia. I thank the Australian Government to issue me this paper and become equal Australian."

After the ceremony in Darwin's satellite city Palmerston, Mr Ayiik plans on celebrating with his room mates, neighbours and his surrounding community.

"We can have a barbeque. It's an Australian food. Before, in the refugee camp, it's hard to make barbeque but here I've learned," he said.

"We can come together and make barbeque and laugh and have drinks and enjoy.

"The barbeque will be unifying us."

Topics: refugees^[4], unrest-conflict-and-war^[5], university-and-further-education^[6], people^[7], australia-day^[8], darwin-0800^[9], palmerston-0830^[10], south-sudan^[11]

References

1. ^{^} Photo: John Ayiik will become an Australian citizen at a ceremony in Darwin on Tuesday. (105.7 ABC Darwin: Brooke Bannister) (www.bing.com)
2. ^{^} snatched from his mother during the region's conflict and forced to fight as a child soldier (www.bing.com)
3. ^{^} South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011, after decades of civil war between the Muslim-dominated north and Christian-dominated, oil-rich south. But trouble continues in the region today. (www.bing.com)
4. ^{^} refugees (www.bing.com)
5. ^{^} unrest-conflict-and-war (www.bing.com)
6. ^{^} university-and-further-education (www.bing.com)
7. ^{^} people (www.bing.com)
8. ^{^} australia-day (www.bing.com)
9. ^{^} darwin-0800 (www.bing.com)
10. ^{^} palmerston-0830 (www.bing.com)
11. ^{^} south-sudan (www.bing.com)