Is gang violence on the rise in Melbourne?

Is gang violence on the rise in Melbourne?

AFRICAN youth have revealed how living in Melbourne, a city “overrun by African gangs” has been “exhausting” as they’re constantly being judged by the colour of their skin.

For more than two years, media reports have portrayed Melbourne as a city under siege, in the grip of a crime wave, overrun by African gangs.

For 19-year-old Pronto, he can’t escape the feeling that people are scared of him, saying people look at him as a “black thief”. His parents are still in Africa but he lives in Melbourne with his aunt and is an aspiring rapper.

“I’m black, I’m 6’5”, and I’m dark skin, really dark skin. So to other people that are not like me, I’m a threat,” he told Four Corners.

“It’s hard for me to walk these streets sometimes. I actually walk outside, go to a shop, try to buy something, and they look at me as a thief.

“Even though I have my money and my coins in my pocket, they still look at me as a black thief.”

Judge Peter Kidd, one of Victoria’s most senior legal minds, appeared on Four Corners claiming reporting on crimes committed by African youths “gives an inaccurate portrayal” of the overall picture of crime in Victoria.

It comes after several media outlets reported on the bashing of two men at St Kilda last week.

In the first incident, 15 or more youths, described by the victims as being of African appearance, kicked and punched a young chef as many as 50 times because he would not give them a cigarette.

Within the hour, the same group set upon another man. They wore knuckledusters and broke a bottle over his head.

But critics say it adds to hysteria around African crime in Melbourne.

“If you are an African offender, and certainly if you’re an African youth of South Sudanese background from the western suburbs of Melbourne, rest assured your case will be reported upon,” he said.

“The media choose to report upon those cases. That creates an impression that we, that our work, a very significant proportion of our work, is taken up with African youths from the western suburbs of Melbourne. That’s a false impression.”

It has continued to affect innocent African youth living in the city, including 20-year-old

Titan Debirioun who was separated at birth from his parents during Sudan’s brutal civil war.

He described the last few months living in Melbourne as “exhausting”.

“People commit crime in every single race but for us it gets put onto the whole culture — our whole culture gets blamed for the actions of a few,” Titan explained.

“You feel like you’re representing your skin colour for everyone that’s just like you. So you have to be an extra nice person, extra smart. Even if you’re not feeling it that day, you just have to have a smile on, because if you don’t, you look scary,” he said.

The ABC reports that people born in Sudan make up 0.1 per cent of Victoria’s population, but account for 1 per cent of alleged criminal activity in Victoria. Of those, young Sudanese males commit close to 10 per cent of all aggravated burglaries.

Judge Kidd says criticism that judges are “too soft” on young offenders is also problematic.

“Judges don’t simply pick numbers from nowhere when we come to sentence,” he told the program.

“What the community’s not told are the other factors which the judge, by law, was required to take into account, such as the fact that he was a first-time offender, or the fact that he’s got great prospects of rehabilitation, or the fact that he’s complied with all other court orders on bail.

“It’s often those factors are pushed to the back or not mentioned at all.”

Members of the South Sudanese community in Melbourne who spoke to Four Corners feel like they have to overcompensate for the way they are perceived.

“Every day I have to convince you I’m Australian,” one young male said.

“We know we’re Australian. We grew up here. Why should I have to convince you I’m Australian?”

The African community in Melbourne has been critical of a number of reports in recent months. In July, Channel 7’s Sunday Night program was labelled “racist” for a story promising to shine the light on “African gangs running riot, terrorising, robbing, wreaking havoc”.

Community leaders from South Sudan claimed members of their community were being treated like “criminals”.

“Africans love this country as much as any other Australian and have no interest to harm others,” Melbourne-based lawyer Maker Mayek wrote on Twitter.

Members of the African community were so enraged by the story they “declared war on Channel 7” and organised a protest at the network’s Melbourne headquarters.