Former assistant police commissioner Ken McKay says African refugees pose a criminal threat
YOUNG African refugees “dumped’’ in Western Sydney have the potential to become part of a new wave of criminal gangs, a recently retired senior NSW police officer says.
NSW
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YOUNG African refugees “dumped’’ in Western Sydney have the potential to become part of a new wave of criminal gangs similar to the rise of Asian and Middle Eastern organised crime gangs, according to a recently retired senior NSW police officer.
Former assistant police commissioner Ken McKay, who headed the Middle Eastern and Asian crime squads, said the current gang atmosphere was similar to what he saw with the establishment of the ruthless Vietnamese street gang the 5T in Cabramatta in the 1980s and more recently the Brothers 4 Life in south-western Sydney.
“Here we go again,’’ said the highly-respected McKay, who retired after more than 30 years in the force last year. “Refugees and immigrants are just dumped in enclaves without thinking and it is left up to the NSW police, social services and welfare groups to try to fix the problem,’’ Mr McKay said.
He said although it may not be politically correct or popular to talk about racial gangs, they were a fact of Sydney life.
“You have large populations of people with very different cultures and backgrounds put into these areas, and there is no denying we have seen it before in Cabramatta with the Vietnamese and with Middle Eastern gangs and also young Muslim men,’’ he said.
“Solving the problem is also pretty complex, but it is something that should be looked at before they are put into communities.’’
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Blacktown council declined to comment on the issue when asked about programs for Sudanese youth.
The recent gang rape of a teenage girl in Doonside, allegedly by six Sudanese males, put the spotlight on the African community, but locals and police say the rape was an isolated incident.
Local area commander of Blacktown Gary Maryweather said there was an incorrect perception of the area. He said there was no evidence of criminal gangs forming among young Sudanese or other ethnic groups, and there was an abundance of social and youth programs.
“We spend a lot of time talking to the young people, interacting with them, making sure we have contact with them on a level as people who want to help them, not arrest them,” he said.
Local youth leader John Kon, who came from Sudan 10 years ago, said the key to helping young refugees was to keep them engaged.
“The most important thing is to give young people something to do,” he said. “If they are engaged, they won’t look for trouble. In any community there are good and bad people and we are no different, but there are many more good people than bad.”
Local Sudanese community leaders and University of Western Sydney criminologist Mike Kennedy said there were serious challenges for refugees in the area, particularly for young people.
“You have to remember these people come from great poverty, civil war and violence” Dr Kennedy said.
“Our jails would offer a better standard of living than what they came from.’’
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