This is raw, fierce storytelling documenting the struggle, violence and racial discrimination faced by a young Sudanese girl and her family from the time they settle in Kakuma camp in Kenya to their life as refugees in Australia.

Escaping the civil war in South Sudan, Akuch Kuol Anytieth, one of five children, is five years old when her family arrive in camp along with thousands of other refugees. There, in an extremely hostile environment, the family’s harrowing struggle to survive famine and extreme heat is compounded by the chronic violence and crime they encounter for eight long years. Women and girls are constantly raped and face the added burden of being disowned by their families if the rape results in a pregnancy. As the years progress, it is only the enormous resilience and courage of Akuch’s mother that enables the family’s survival and their eventual settlement in Melbourne.

Unknown is an extraordinary insight into Sudanese culture and family life. Akuch’s brother is brutally violent and destructive, and his drug and alcohol dependence has enormous repercussions for the family both in Kenya and Australia. It was an eye opener to learn more about the tremendous community spirit and generosity of the Sudanese culture. Ultimately, one of the strongest threads in this story is Akuch’s amazing academic achievement and how education eventually opened many doors.

This is an outstanding memoir that captures the incredible resilience of a family forced to abandon everything they know. It offers the opportunity to reflect on and unearth our own prejudices and discriminatory behaviour against refugees and ethnic minorities.

Reviewed by Karen Williams

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Akuch Kuol Anyieth is a graduate researcher in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies. Her research interests broadly cover masculinity, domestic violence, and the law. Currently, she is researching the use of family violence intervention orders within the South Sudanese community in Melbourne, Victoria.

Her work weaves together pre, and post-migration experiences of South Sudanese families, their application of customary laws on contemporary legal issues, and their adaptation of Western rules of law in the diaspora. Akuch is the author of two books. Her first book ‘South Sudanese Manhood and Family Crisis in the Diaspora’ is on family violence, speaking to the traumatic historical context of South Sudanese men pre-and post-migration.

Her second book, ‘Unknown’ is an autobiography, speaking to her experiences living as a refugee, first in Kenya and then settling in Australia, an account of dealing with violence, trauma and racism while trying to live a normal life. Among other boards, Akuch is a member of The Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association and a member of Multicultural Women’s Alliance Against Family Violence.