Murder, community talk and belonging: an exploration of Sudanese community responses to murder in Australia

On 26 October 2009 Alex Ngong Akok Akol, a young man originally from Sudan, was murdered by a group of Australian youths. This paper will explore the responses of members of the Mading Aweil community of Dinka from Southern Sudan following Alex's murder. Through analysing conversations and experiences in the community in the days following Alex's death, I will consider how his murder impacted on senses of belonging for members of the Sudanese community living in Adelaide. I will argue that for members of the Sudanese community, Alex's murder and subsequent reports by the media, emphasised and exacerbated the lack of belonging many of them already felt in Australia. In addition, incidents in the community at this time called into question not only senses of belonging within the broader Australian community, but also within Sudanese subcommunity groups.