South Sudanese refugee Philip Lako
HOW many of our choices are really choices, South Sudanese refugee Philip Lako – who is now settled in Western Australia – asked Palm Beach Rotarians recently.
Some of our choices are made by us but others are made by other people and imposed on us — and many of those choices may be hard to understand.
Choices affecting his early life were imposed on him — for example when SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) rebels came into his tiny village, Kerchomba, and took him from his parents when he was st 10 years old. They said he would be given a western education but this was a lie and he did not see his family again for 14 years.
He was caught up in the Civil War which ravaged South Sudan from 1995 to 2005. South Sudan became independent in July 2011 after a referendum in which people voted overwhelmingly for secession from Sudan. But it is one of the world’s poorest countries and ranks lowest in many socio-economic categories. The government is racked with corruption. Inter-tribal clashes occur without warning throughout the country, and there is frequent fighting between the army and armed militia groups.
There are 2.4 million refugees from South Sudan and 20,000 are settled in Australia. Of all the African countries, South Sudan has the largest number of refugees worldwide.
The country’s 12 million people belong to 64 tribes, he said.
THE BOOK: past president Kevin McDonnell, program director and Jill Wright pose with Philip Lako and his wife Lucia, next to an oversized mock-up of the cover of Philip’s memoir.
Philip's village life was not idyllic — it was primitive and with some cruel tribal practices. The hardships he suffered in his early life were comparatively normal in developing nations.
Writing his memoir in the safety of Australia helped him through his post-traumatic stress. He dreamed of the beatings he suffered while a child soldier. "I used to deprive myself of sleep to avoid beatings," he recalled.
At that time he was a slave labourer in a rebel settlement. He was brutalised by the rebels. “Sometimes we went seven days without a shower," he recalled. "There was no water for anything but drinking and cooking.”
He was with the rebels for four years and the child soldiers were given minimum food. "Some of us pooled rations."
When he was taken, his father had a horrific choice. The rebels said they were going to take one of two sons and the father had to decide which one would go. His father decided Philip should go because, being younger, he would adapt more easily. In his captivity, Philip convinced himself his family had disowned him.
Eventually, he escaped to a refugee camp in Kenya. "It was established in 1992 and people are still living there," he said. If not for the Australian government and people like the Rotarians he was addressing, he would not be living his present comfortable life. “I would not have made it to Australia and this second chance of life," he said. On arrival, he was amazed by life here and ignorant of the trappings of modern life. "I did not know how to use knives and forks,” he said as an example.
The abundance in this country startled him. "Wheat flour from WA is eaten in Sudan," he said.
The country has given him hope, safety, liberty, opportunities, and self-esteem. Now he is a member of the Perth Rotary Club. "It gave me the opportunity to imagine my full potential", he said.
“Without the contribution of people like you, I would not be a survivor." He referred to problems in Melbourne among refugees, which had attracted much negative media coverage. The troublemakers belong to "one or two tribes whose lifestyle was incompatible with modern life", he said." At home they used aggression and hostility to protect their assets and this behaviour has been brought to Australia. Some were born in refugee camps and were suffering identity crises too.
Hal Baxter asked Philip what caused the war and asked if oil was involved. Phillip said "yes" — Southern Sudan had oil and the north did not. Politicians claimed the war had a religious basis and didn't mention oil but oil was the key to the strife.
His father, brother, and two sisters are still in South Sudan; his mother has long since died. Because of government policy, getting family from Africa to Australia was more difficult than from other countries.
His father would be unwilling to leave South Sudan. He was an asset to his village and greatly respected.