Sudanese leaders seek jail access to help youths
SUDANESE community leaders are pleading for more access to jails to counsel young offenders as data reveals Sudan- and South Sudan-born people were allegedly involved in almost 10 per cent of all reported aggravated robberies in Victoria last year.
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SUDANESE community leaders are pleading for more access to jails to counsel young offenders in a bid to break the cycle of crime.
A breakdown of Crime Statistics Agency data by birth country reveals Sudan- and South Sudan-born people were allegedly involved in almost 10 per cent of all reported aggravated robberies in Victoria last year.
In 2017-18, 206 reported alleged aggravated robbery offender incidents involved Sudan- and South Sudan-born people, compared with just 63 in 2014-15, new figures show.
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Only Australian-born suspects were responsible for more such alleged incidents.
Population data provided by the Andrews Government show people of African backgrounds account for about 0.14 per cent of Victorians.
Sudan- and South Sudan-born people also ranked among the worst four countries of origin of reported incidents involving alleged aggravated burglary; assault; assaults on emergency workers; motor vehicle theft; and riot and affray.
The figures, which do not measure people of Sudanese background who were born in Australia, show 444 of the 873 alleged Sudan- and South Sudan-born offenders were under the age of 24.
A four-year comparison of alleged reported offender incidents involving them shows:
509 assaults in 2017-18, up from 405 in 2014-15;
90 motor vehicle thefts, up from 54; and
49 aggravated burglaries, up from 24.
But the data does reveal a fall in such alleged violent incidents from people from those countries, from a peak in 2016-17.
South Sudanese community leaders are pushing to have more elders allowed into jails to counsel youths.
Kenyatta Dei Wal, chairman of the Federation of South Sudanese Associations of Victoria, said expanding the program would help young people better transition back into the community.
“We need to engage and build relationships with them inside jail so when they come out they are able to transition,” he said.
Other plans include taking problem youths away from Melbourne during the school holidays. Youth Activating Youth director Ahmed Hassan said the camp program was to begin in summer.
Opposition police spokesman Edward O’Donohue said: “Labor keep burying their heads in the sand about youth gangs. There is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed.”
Police Minister Lisa Neville said a small “core group” of youth offenders were causing harm in the community.