Refugee. The diary of Ali Ismail by Alan Sunderland

As he leaves his village in Afghanistan, Ali begins to write a diary that will document his escape from his Taliban-dominated homeland, and his experiences in Australia as one of the “boat people”. The diary is written over the span of 14 months from 2001, and gives a moving account of Ali’s experiences in the detention camp, and later in the wider Australian context.
Ali is not a true person. Alan Sunderland is a journalist, and has compiled convincing ‘diary’ written from the view point of a young Muslim boy. Ali Ismail is the personification of the grim reality of life as an illegal asylum seeker. The notes at the end of the book give a historical perspective, and statistics about refugees into Australia. A brief bibliography is given for further reading.