Ethnic crime: Somalian and Sudanese

Martin Lehmann - 26 January 2006

Regardless of Australia's international obligations regarding refugees, the Australian government's first duty must be to the well-being of its citizens and the maintenance of law and order. 

Taking too many refugees from war-torn countries poses risks to our culture. A prime example being the current flood of African refugees, particularly those from Somalia and Sudan.

These people are, in many cases, so emotionally and mentally damaged they may never fit into Australian society. They have the capacity to drag down our culture. Somalis in particular, are strict Muslims who put Sharia law above the law of their country.

The mainstream media, in true politically correct fashion, do not report the unpalatable truth about the disruptive impact of refugees on law and order. Rather they run propaganda pieces on the joys of multiculturalism.

Politically correct rubbish from the Australian

The Australian recently ran such an article. Reporter Carol Overington produced a typical warm and fuzzy piece on how well the Sudanese refugees are settling in to the Queensland town of Toowoomba. She started her piece with the story of Thomas Thiik, a recent refugee from Sudan, who had just been released from jail after serving three months for repeat driving offences. 

In an insult to our intelligence Overington reported that Thiik did not understand our laws relating to driving, notwithstanding that he had received numerous warnings, fines and even a suspension.

Hang on a minute. How is that these same people only need one lesson at a bleeding heart, government funded church group or social agency to learn how to apply for the dole and all the other taxpayer-funded benefits?

The real reason Thiik broke the law so many times is explained by a senior teacher at a Perth northern suburbs high school  that caters to a large number of Somali and Sudanese students.

"Refugees from war-torn countries such as Somalia and Sudan have been brought up in a brutal, totally lawless society", the teacher told Australian News Commentary. "They do not follow rules. They have no respect for Australian law. In fact they have no respect for human life. Death means little to them."

"As a result they can be extremely vicious. If a white kid gets into a fight at school with an African kid, we have to call the parents of the white kid to pick him after school or there will be a gang of Africans waiting outside  the school to beat the crap out of him."

"With some exceptions, they will not mingle with or play sport with Aussie kids", she said.

The teacher was adamant that the government funded agencies were doing the refugee kids a great disservice. "They are not supposed to show up at school until they complete an intensive English language course and an induction into the Australian life with respect to our laws, our expectations and our culture", she said. "However they are dumped on us with very little English. As a result they fall behind at school, they become disruptive and then the other kids become resentful of them."

"Some cannot be sent out on vocational training because they will not follow rules and because of their poor English.", she said. 

Many of these young people see their future in African criminal gangs where the philosophy, based on experience in their home countries, is to just take what they need by whatever means possible. 

Somali crime wave

Although there are only about 3,500 Somalis in Perth, they are responsible for a mini crime wave. Numerous violent crimes committed by Somalis have hit the headlines over the past three years.

The Somalis have introduced violent car-jacking to Perth. The perpetrators, mostly with links to the African Kings, a dangerous criminal gang, have carried out a series of violent carjackings, assaults and robberies. Some examples:

• Somali refugee Abdirak Mohmd Hassan was jailed for seven years after being convicted in the Supreme Court  of Western Australia on 28 May 2004 over a series of violent carjackings, including two knife-point attacks committed between October 13 and 25, 2002. In sentencing, Justice McKechnie said Hassan's carjacking crimes indicated a disturbing pattern of criminality "largely alien to our society".
  
  
• Then in August 2005, Hassan again faced a Supreme Court trial over another violent carjacking. The victim, a young student feared she was going to die after the car she was driving was hijacked by Hassan and another Somali.
  
  
• Somali refugee Dhaqane Alim, 19, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on 6 February 2004 to charge of armed robbery with violence in company. The court was told that on 20 May 2003 Alim and two co-offenders followed the victim from the Burswood train station before mugging him. Alim's co-offender, Jye Horton, who also faces an armed robbery charge, threatened the victim with a 15 cm knife while Alim grabbed the man's arms and rifled through his pockets, stealing a mobile phone and a wallet. The court was also told that Alim was a member of the African Kings street gang.

• On 22 March 2004 five men were taken to hospital after a violent clash between Somali and Aboriginal groups armed with knives and clubs in Perth's Northbridge area. One Aboriginal man received seven stab wounds and a suspected punctured lung after being attacked by a group of Somali men.
  
  
• Police were called to break up a violent brawl between a large number of Africans and Aboriginals in the Perth suburb of Mirrabooka on 27 December 2005. Police Commissioner O'Callaghan said police were called out 14 times in the last 12 months to similar brawls between Africans and Aboriginals.