A Sudanese mother-of-six says there are ‘too many laws’ and not enough jobs in Australia – a mix she claims is driving Melbourne’s crime wave.
Asha Awur, whose eldest son has been imprisoned for gang activity, says isolation and the inability to support themselves is driving men in her community to join gangs.
She claims migrants who come from African nations like Sudan have fled traumatic upbringings and struggle to assimilate immediately into Australian culture.
Part of the struggle, she says, is the sheer amount of laws in the country, which is ‘very confusing’ for troubled youths.
‘We have all these laws, so it’s just very confusing, and I feel sorry for the kids because they don’t know how to deal with this,’ she told A Current Affair.
Sudanese mother Asha Awur says there are ‘too many laws’ in Australia, and it confuses children who come to the country from overseas
She says the men feel ‘isolated and frustrated’ by their new lives, and often turn to crime as a way of combating their feelings and supporting themselves.
Ms Awur, a Sudanese mother of young children herself, says this is the case even for children who have moved to Australia, who are working to fit in at school, and in a predominantly Christian nation.
Religion is a major part of life in Sudan, with the majority of the population adhering to Islam.
Ms Awur also said those who come from overseas are not given enough support or opportunity to establish themselves.
Ms Awur also says her Centrelink payments are not enough to raise her large family on
The lack of support is something she feels herself, telling the program her Centrelink payment is not enough to raise her children on.
She claims she occasionally has to deprive them of entertainment, which she believes may have led her son to crime.
Ms Awur said her children rely on her for extra money, and hypothesises that they steal if she cannot provide it.
‘If mum isn’t always giving me money, there’s no pocket money, and maybe I have to find a different way of stealing, get my own money,’ she said, mimicking her children.
The mother, whose eldest son is in jail for gang activity, says a lack of employment opportunities and money, as well as the amount of laws in Australia, are the driving forces behind the wave of gang crime
The woman claims the lack of support often results in people abusing drugs and alcohol.
‘Noone is helping them out – they can’t make money, so they end up in drugs, smoke and drink,’ she said.
Berhan Ahmed, the CEO of the African Australian Multicultural Employment and Youth Services, wrote in the Herald Sun last week his organisation, supported by the Government, was working to tackle issues which could lead young Africans to participate in gang crime.
In particular, he referenced employment opportunities and educational support as issues the organisation was looking to help their clients overcome, using ‘resourcing that will help prevent their children from being recruited into criminal gangs’.
An African-Australian support organisation says it is looking to improve employment opportunities and educational resources for its clients in a bid to prevent children from ‘being recruited to criminal gangs’