Tam Po talks about Melbourne gang for the first time (Photo of the Daily Telegraph)
(MalcolmTurnbull), Australia`s prime minister, joined a heated debate over crime, youth and race, saying Melbourne could not pretend there were no Sudanese gang problems there.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Victorian police have been trying to play down the frequent crime problems of local youth gangs of African descent, but admit that a small group of core criminals is causing trouble. Australian Prime Minister Tam Po spoke for the first time on Tuesday over the issue of Sudanese youth gangs in Melbourne.
"the fact is there`s a gang problem here, pretending it doesn`t exist, doesn`t make it disappear," Tan said in an interview. At some point, you must not face the truth, you have to admit that there is a problem, people are worried about it. "
Earlier, Melbourne community leaders said gang-related comments had led to incidents of racism and harassment against African-American communities in Melbourne.
In January, Dutton (Peter Dutton), Australia`s interior minister, publicly said Melbourne residents were not even daring to go out to eat because of violence by African-American gangs.
Mr Tan said yesterday that he was not afraid to eat in town, but had heard his colleagues raise such concerns.
"to be honest, there are Sudanese gang activities in Melbourne," Tan said. But no one is targeting Sudanese immigrants. I have talked about the great achievements made by Sudanese immigrants in Australia, in all its aspects. "
Mr Tan denied that his party`s comments on Melbourne`s gang were inciting racism.
According to data released Monday by the Equal opportunities and Human Rights Commission (Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission), the state`s racial-related complaints are up 34 percent from the previous year and official complaints are up 76 percent from the previous year.
Victoria Governor Andrew (Daniel Andrews) admitted in February that Melbourne had gang problems, but he disagreed with residents who dared not go out to eat.
"I respect Prime Minister Tembo, but I don`t think the Prime Minister knows what he`s talking about," Andrew said. There are the best restaurants in the country. They are all full of seats. I have no more to say about it. "
The state police have been funded by the government to set up a gang-specific crackdown unit to arrest hundreds of young criminals since the beginning of 2016. In addition, Victoria has set up a community advisory body to ensure communication between state government and Sudanese youth.
