Elijah Buol arrived in Australia as a 16-year-old unaccompanied minor refugee from South Sudan, having lost both his parents in the Sudan War when he was only nine-years-old.
Now, 34-years-old, Mr Buol is an advocate for youth and a criminologist who was instrumental in changing Queensland laws regarding minors being sent to adult prison.
“For me, everything that I do is not about getting recognition, it’s all about serving the community,” Mr Buol said.
Born in South Sudan, then moving to Uganda at six-years-old, Mr Buol says most of his life has been spent in Australia.
“I was a minor when I came here, and I grew up here,” he said. “I moved to Logan when I was 19-years-old. The reception was great.
“Of course, when you come to a new place, there will always be challenges, but I was able to get support from friends, from schools, and from support services that help refugees and migrants.”
With a passion for justice, choosing to study criminology was an easy decision for Mr Buol.
“I was always fascinated by understanding how the system works and how I can be an instrument to others,” Mr Buol said. “So that motivated me to study criminology and law.
“That’s just been my passion, to make sure I talk and represent those who don’t have a voice in our community and that’s what I’ve been doing, supporting disadvantaged young people in the multicultural community, as well as the mainstream community and indigenous community in Australia for the last 13 years.”
During his studies, Mr Buol came across a law in the Queensland justice system that he believed was unfair in a country where the law is upheld and where justice is there for everyone.
“One of the things I discovered during my studies was that in Queensland we used to be the only state in Australia that put 17-year-olds in adult prisons,” Mr Buol said. “For me, I felt it was against the fundamental human rights of these children.
“They can’t vote because they are treated as children, but why put them in an adult prison when they commit a crime?”
Governments eventually agreed to pass the law in 2016 after Mr Buol fought to change it.
“It was amazing,” Mr Buol said. “That was something that I really enjoyed doing, and I will continue fighting for other causes that matter to all of us.”
Awarded an OAM, Queensland Local Hero Award in 2019 and recently named 2020 Australian National University Student Volunteer of the Year, Mr Buol says he will carry on fighting for those without a voice within the community.
“I’m just continuing to help people in the community, supporting people in the community who are disadvantaged and also empowering young people, telling them ‘you might have a tough time today, but tomorrow will be a different day’,” he said.
“We can write our own chapter, but if we get a bit of support, we can write a better one, and I think that’s really important for us as a community.”
