ONE Sydney suburb — which has far more Sudanese immigrants than anywhere else in Australia — has no African gang problems and encapsulates the Aussie way of giving people a fair go.
That’s according to cops, community leaders and pollies in Blacktown, a multicultural suburb to Sydney’s west which 567 Sudanese and South Sudanese immigrants call home.
That’s almost 200 more residents from the war-torn African nations than Tarneit, Victoria which has 371 and Redbank Plains in Queensland which is home to 341.
Australia has been gripped by a fiery debate about “African gangs” for years now after a spate of horrific home invasions, public bashings and out-of-control parties which have left police officers fleeing, residents terrified and streets in disarray.
The debate has reared its head once again after one of these violent teen party invasions turned deadly and claimed the life of a bubbly 19-year-old soccer fan and university student Laa Chol in Melbourne this weekend.
However, Blacktown has seen almost none of these notorious party trashings in recent years and local police officer, Chief Inspector Bob Fitzgerald, who has lived in the area for 40 years, told news.com.au problems with “African gangs” are virtually non-existent in the suburb.
“We do have problems (similar to those seen in Melbourne) on occasion, but they are nowhere near as near as frequent as people suggest,” he said.
“And, when these things do happen, we find they are carried out by people from a range of backgrounds from Filipinos, Anglos, islanders … people from all over the world.
“We don’t have mass gangs roaming the street. You might see groups of Sudanese people on the street, but you’ll see people of lots of different cultures hanging together as well.”
Insp Fitzgerald is also the chairman of SydWest Multicultural Services which helps people of all ages and backgrounds across greater western Sydney integrate into the Aussie way of life. And, he believes services like this are crucial in keeping young Aussies from Sudanese backgrounds out of trouble.
“When we do have problem people from Sudanese backgrounds in our area command, we tend to find that they are not from the area,” he said.
By working with schools, police and non-profit organisations, Insp Fitzgerald says SydWest Multicultural Services has helped young Sudanese-Australians find their feet in Sydney.
“It’s about people not feeling isolated and giving people a fair go — that’s the Australian way,” he said. “If kids don’t have options, they get bored and they make bad decisions.
“We’re really big on sport here in Western Sydney, whether it’s soccer, AFL or basketball and we’ve found that’s a good way to break down barriers between cultures.”
Young immigrants in Blacktown have also been able to steer clear of the streets by embracing traditional Sudanese sports and cultural activities such as weekly wrestling competitions at Blacktown International Peace Park.
Blacktown Mayor and state MP Stephen Bali trumpeted his electorate’s success in integrating Sudanese migrants and said any crackdown by police on African youths was addressing the problem “at its end”.
“People need to feel welcomed,” he told The Australian. “They need to be supported by their new community and they need to be provided with tools to successfully integrate such as English lessons, accommodation and education.”
Blacktown’s success story has been politicised today following the death of Ms Chol in a Melbourne apartment party on Saturday.
Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Minister Alan Tudge said Victoria’s state government was to blame for a law-and-order problem which has led to a spate of violent incidents involving Sudanese youths in Melbourne for many years.
Over 17 months, there has been six incidents with stark similarities where a short-term rental property has been hired out by teenagers in Melbourne, gatecrashed by up to 150 uninvited youths at a time and trashed — often leaving guests and police officers with injuries.
Mr Tudge pointed to figures from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency (CSA), to the end of March which show Sudanese-born people are 57 times more likely to be charged with aggravated robbery in Victoria than their Australian-born counterparts.
“Basically the crime data is kept by country of origin, and what it shows is that typically the Australian-born commit most of the crime, naturally, because three-quarters of Victoria are Australian-born,’’ Mr Tudge told Sky News.
“But often now, Sudanese-born is number two or number three, despite them being a tiny proportion of the population, so there clearly is an issue going on there, and the Victorian public know this.
“The interesting thing, though, is that there isn’t the Sudanese problem in NSW, nor in Queensland, despite the fact that there is a similar-sized Sudanese population in Sydney, so to me that says it’s actually a law-and-order problem right here in Victoria.
“We know they are weak on crime here in Victoria, and I think that many of the gang members know they can get away with it, and consequently continue to commit it.”
Today, a teenage boy accused of stabbing Ms Chol to death over the weekend appeared in court.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be identified was remanded in custody and the matter was adjourned for 10 weeks.
TOP TEN SUBURBS FOR PEOPLE BORN IN SUDAN/SOUTH SUDAN
1. Blacktown, NSW: 567
2. Tarneit, Vic: 371
3. Redbanks Plain: Qld: 341
4. Pakenham, Vic: 291
5. St Albans, Vic: 274
6. Wyndham Vale, Vic: 266
7. Brookfield, Vic: 242
8. Mount Druitt, NSW: 239
9. Dandenong, Vic: 237
10. Truganina, Vic: 237
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