One current and one former Australian Border Force officer were arrested this week. Credit:AAP Federal Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the Victorian Government needed to "do more than they've done in recent times" to address gang violence. "This country has been made great by migration because people have come here, in many cases trying to escape the ravages of war, of unrest and conflict, of terrorism and they want to come to a country that's safe," Mr Dutton said, on 3AW. "They want to come to a great city like Melbourne, which is safe, but unfortunately over recent times the activity of the Apex gangs and others have meant that Melbourne is in the headlines for the wrong reasons. "We want people to come to our country who are going to so the right thing, are going to make a positive contribution, and I think that's what all Australians would expect.



"It is difficult when the bail laws are the way they are, move on powers have been weakened, and there is not a problem in NSW or QLD with this gang violence – the gang violence is present in Victoria, and I think the Victorian Government needs to do more than they've done in recent months and years.

"We need to send a very clear message to these people that breaking into people's homes to steal keys, following people or ransacking small businesses, it is unacceptable." Named after the street in Dandenong where its founding members come from, the violent Apex gang originally consisted of young men of Sudanese descent, but has grown to up to 150 members from a variety of backgrounds and from across Melbourne. Public anxiety about the Apex gang has sparked concerns about racial profiling, and Sudanese-Australian community leaders say the problem is worsening.

Many of the alleged Apex members are juvenile offenders and are still serving their sentences. The spokeswoman said the referral of children, aged under 18, would only occur in exceptional circumstances, but Victoria Police had made "some referrals in respect to that age group for consideration". "As this is a confidential process, no further details will be released," she said. "The decision to apply for the cancellation of a person's visa is not taken lightly and is assessed against the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2016 (Vic)."

Mr Dutton said a parliamentary committee, led by Federal Member for La Trobe Jason Wood, was investigating whether children under the age of 18 can be deported. "It's very difficult to deport children and this is one of the things that Jason Wood's committee is having a look at, whether, for example, the bar can be lowered from 18 to 17 or 16," he said. "But we don't deport children, we try and work with families through difficulties ... a lot of them are in family circumstances that need to be examined, we need to understand why children of 12 or 13 years of age, of any nationality, are roaming the streets of Melbourne or any capital city. "Parents have a fundamental responsibility, they need to meet it, if they're not then the authorities need to act in that regards as well." News Limited has reported one Apex member has already been deported, to New Zealand, and three others will be kicked out of Australia once they have served their prison sentences.

One of the men facing deportation is believed to be Isaac Gatkuoth​, from Sudan, who pointed a sawn-off shotgun in a man's face during a carjacking and was sentenced to 20 months in youth detention. It is understood Gatkuoth is or may have been a member of the Apex gang, despite his denials to police. In May last year, County Court Judge Mark Taft said Gatkuoth had a significant criminal record and was concerned by the escalation in the frequency and scale of his offending. The court heard Gatkuoth came to Australia with his family at age nine, and his memories of his native Sudan were of gangs, violence and weapons. Two of his brothers and his father had all been killed there. Loading

"I entirely accept that your formative years have been wretched. That, however, does not excuse your violent conduct," Judge Taft told the then-19-year-old. "As I have previously remarked, having been exposed to violence you should be the last person to inflict violence upon others."