Model says Sudanese must do more to fight crime

A TOP African model has demanded the Sudanese community in Melbourne do more to stop the Apex teen crime wave.

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A TOP African model has demanded the Sudanese community in Melbourne do more to stop the Apex teen crime wave.

Adau Mornyang has called for South Sudanese community leaders and parents to take control of the teens who have been involved in violent crime.

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Ms Mornyang, 22, came to Australia as a refugee from South Sudan when she was 10 and not able to speak English.

She said the South Sudanese community needed to integrate more.

“It really breaks my heart to see what is happening with the teenagers, they need help,” she said of troubled Sudanese youths. “Where are their parents? Who is looking after them? Who are their mentors?

“The community has to come together and really learn the culture of Australia, learn the laws of the country — that is the only way you are going to be able to keep your kids.”

Ms Mornyang said many African immigrants were also shying away from serious mental health issues for teenagers, which was making them turn to a life of violence and drugs.

Adau Mornyang with Aussie Miss World 2016 Madeline Cowe at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. Picture: Alex Coppel

Ms Mornyang moved to Melbourne by herself from Sydney when she was 17, and over the past three years her modelling career has taken off. She has worked in the top fashion capitals of the world, including London, Paris and New York.

She plans to enter the Miss World competition this year and was not afraid to speak out and be a role model for her community.

“They need someone to look up to,” she said.

“There is more to life then stealing, robbing, causing people trauma.

“Life is not easy, but there is more to live for if you put your mind to it.”

Ms Mornyang urged the Australian community to become more educated about the background of the South Sudanese and where they came from, and to work better together. “I’m in this to speak up, and sometimes models are taught not to speak,” she said. “Me going in Miss World is going to give me the opportunity to speak up.”

Her message includes bringing everyone together.

“Not only am I South Sudanese, but I’m Australian,” she said.

Ms Mornyang left war-torn South Sudan when she was four with her sister and her children, leaving her mother behind — who she hasn’t seen since. “Every night I go to bed, and wonder if I’m ever going to meet my mum again, because of the situation over there.”

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