In late October Victoria Police arrested 57 youths across Melbourne’s suburbs and some regional areas as part of a crackdown on youth offending. The majority of people arrested were between 15- and 21-years-old, and 60 per cent were of African appearance.
In the wake of the operation, Victoria Police commander of North West Metro Tim Hansen is warning African communities to be vigilant, as he says Police intelligence indicates larger organised crime groups are taking advantage of vulnerable youth.
“What we know – I think this is important for my many friends in the African community to understand too – is that there are other elements of serious organised crimes entities that are actively seeking out those young people that are vulnerable.
“They seem to focus on the youths of African heritage or African-Australian heritage… They are getting them to do what I will describe as their ‘dirty work’… They understand that they are vulnerable, and they are preying on these kids. So together, the police and the community have to do their best to protect our kids as much as we can.”
As was also noted in police statements at the time of the arrests, Hansen says he is surprised and disturbed by the speedy escalation of the nature of the crimes allegedly committed by the youths, who have been charged for retail swarming, home invasions, carjackings and street robberies.
North Metro Commander Tim Hansen Source: Supplied
“I don't want to get caught in a running discussion around what ‘gang’ [people belong to] or particularly what that means because one thing that we know through our intelligence sources is that they love the notoriety of being referred as a gang. They love the notoriety of their crimes being highlighted. I'm not going to feed into that commentary but absolutely what we do know is that many of these kids are networked to a gang link.”
Hansen is calling for the police and the community to come together in helping vulnerable young people, particularly through supporting the parents of children at risk.
“We have to work out which ones of those parents is struggling and together as a community, we can get around them and give all the support that they need.”
In Victoria, the South Sudanese community is one of largest among African groups, and are believed to be over-represented among contingents of arrested or imprisoned young people in Victoria. Hansen could not provide precise figures on these numbers.
“We don’t collect specific data of the cultural background… what I can say is that we are seeing the over-representation of young people from South Sudanese background around committing some of these crimes.”
Maker Mayek Riak, a prominent lawyer within the South Sudanese community, says he is also concerned by an inter-generational disconnect between these youths and their parents.
Maker Mayek Riak of Mayek Legal Source: Maker Mayek Riak
Soon after Operation Liege, he reached out to members of the South Sudanese community with the message that it was important for people to maintain contact with their children, especially if they have been arrested.
“What I saw in the court, was there were three young people who appeared at before the court but no parent or any family member there to support them,” he says. “I saw social workers and the staff from youth justice… Are kids the ones who don’t tell their parents, or are police are not informing parents or has legal aid refused to inform parents?”
South Sudanese youths have told SBS Dinka they are frustrated at having been “demonised” in media coverage, and many believe that the way out of a vicious cycle of crime is finding employment. But they also say the wider youth community struggles to secure jobs with South Sudanese names and needs more family and community support.
“What is happening with youth in Victoria is that their reputation was destroyed in 2014,” one young man told SBS Dinka. “We are seen as bad people, you know? If you apply for a job and your name is ‘Deng’ or ‘Chol’ or some other South Sudanese name then you wouldn’t get hired. If you change it to any other name that is not South Sudanese, your chances are better.”
Commander Hansen is confident that South Sudanese and the African communities will work with the police to assist many of these young people.
“I have great faith and confidence that the South Sudanese community moving forward will be a significant part of the broader Australia and will continue to contribute positively to the broader Australian community.
“At the moment we have some challenges around some young people, and together, we’ve got to get these young people out of the situation, then we can all enjoy the benefits and the fruits of our labour.”
