Forum Report

The Multicultural Sudanese Centre has prepared the Report of the Sudanese Australian Social Issues Forum, which was held on 6 September 2007 at Flemington Community Centre.

The Report Content Include:

  • Introduction
  • Background of An Emerging Community of Sudanese in Victoria
  • Reasons for Holding the Forum
  • Sudanese Australian Social Issues Forum
  • Speakers Topics
  • Pre-arrival Background to Sudanese Youth Issues
  • Sudanese Refugee Children in Uganda
  • Sudanese Refugees Children in Kenya
  • The Lost Children of Sudanese Families
  • Child Soldiers
  • Education
  • Forum Feedback
  • Conclusion
  • Recommendation
  • Sources

The Multicultural Sudanese Centre wishes to thank all those who participated in the Sudanese Australian Social Issues Forum, on 6 th September 2007 at Flemington Community Centre, in particularly the Victorian Law Foundation, Victorian Multicultural Commission, Moonee Valley City Council, Victorian Police, the Centre Connecting Community in North and West Melbourne staff, the Multicultural Sudanese Centre volunteers who worked hard to deliver the forum, and Community Representatives who gave up their time and made valued contributions to the discussion groups.

Yours sincerely,

Elhadi Abass

Manager
Multicultural Sudanese Centre Inc

Phone: 03 9376-6513 or 0423945548
Email: sudane@sudanesecentre.org.au
Website: www.sudanesecentre.org.au

Introduction:

The Multicultural Sudanese Centre is a prominent Sudanese Australian community organisation based in Flemington, Victoria, and comprises more than 600 financially-contributing members and an elected Committee. The outlook of the MSC is multicultural, both in its inclusion of all Sudanese tribal and regional cultures, and in its reaching out to other Horn of Africa communities within Victoria. Activities and services hosted by the MSC attract participants from local Sudanese, Somali, Eritrean, Ethiopian and other groups. The MSC runs a range of programs to assist community members, including driver education, interpretive services, advocacy, English and Arabic classes, school holiday programs, immigration assistance, partnership programs, transport to hospital, family legal help and housing assistance. For more information about services providing.

An Emerging Community of Sudanese in Victoria

The Victorian Sudanese community is a fast-growing, emerging community in Victoria, with a population of approximately 8,000 people living mainly in Victoria. The community has grown rapidly since 2000, due largely to immigration of people affected by war in Sudan.

The experiences of Sudanese immigrants prior to entering Australia are significant. The vast majorities, 97%, are refugees affected by civil war, the majority had been in refugee camps for more than 15 years, many of them lack school education, many of them cannot read in their main language and have need of interpreter and 60% are from large families and complex family relationships.

In 1986 the conflict spread to the central Nuba Mountains, in 1995 to the eastern and, in 2003, to Darfur in the west. Sudanese people comprise the largest population of displaced persons in the world. It is estimated that more than six million people have been displaced, both to neighboring countries and within Sudan - and two million have migrated to Australia, Canada, UK, USA and other countries. Charactistically, 75% of the Sudanese that have entered Victoria are women and children, and their average age is 25.

Sudanese settling in Australia are dealing with educational challenges. Sixty percent have no formal education, including literacy or numeracy in their own language. These Sudanese comprise a group that is vulnerable, to the extent that they have a limited ability to respond to cultural and social challenges and dangers.

A further twenty percent of Sudanese migrants have had limited secondary education in Sudan, yet hold high expectations to continue their education in Australia. However, they face a formidable language barrier, and can experience serious difficulty fitting in to the school system, or gaining employment.

The remaining fifth of Sudanese migrants to Australia have high level of education from Sudan, but are affected by lack of recognition of their overseas-gained skills and qualifications.

In general the majority of Sudanese entering to Victoria are survivors of torture and trauma experience, with the psychological effects of these abuses remaining with them throughout the settlement experience.

In addition to these challenges, they have no familiarity with Australian lifestyle or culture, finding them in a strange new land.

Compounding their difficulties, these New Australians have limited experience with budgeting or financial management.

Reasons for Holding the Forum

The Multicultural Sudanese Centre held the Sudanese Australian Social Issues Forum for a number of reasons:

  1. There had been a number of incidents highlighted in the media about the social problems faced by the Sudanese community: reports of gang violence, drunken youth, unlicensed driving, family problems and child discipline issues. The Forum in part comprised a response to these media reports.
  2. The opening of a dialogue between the Sudanese community in Victoria and their neighbours in the wider community was seen as a high priority.
  3. The format of a public forum afforded the opportunity to communicate directly with interested members of the Victorian community on a range of issues.
  4. The forum was designed to help the emerging Sudanese community to reach out to the wider population for help with social issues, including: driver education, consumerism, petty crime, family relationship breakdowns, problems caused by divorce and remarriage, problematic attitudes about settling in Australia, youths' sexual relationship issues, cultural differences and sexual norms, and special issues faced by war-torn families.
  5. To assist in the coordination of government, police, media and community service providers who are involved with the Sudanese community in Victoria. The Forum provided a place of contact for these various crucial organisations.

The Sudanese Australian Social Issues Forum

As a response to these issues experienced by Sudanese Australians, the Multicultural Sudanese Centre Inc held a Sudanese Australian Social Issues Forum at Flemington Community Centre on Thursday 6 September 2007.

The purpose of the Forum was to bring together a wide-ranging representation of organisations - government agencies, community service providers, Victorian Police representatives, community leaders and interested individuals - to share information and ideas about social issues faced by the emerging Victorian Sudanese community, with a special emphasis on youth issues.

The Forum aimed to lay the groundwork for understanding and networking between Multicultural Sudanese Centre members, the Sudanese community and service providers. The forum was a partnership project supported by the Victorian Law Foundation, Victorian Multicultural Commission, Moonee Valley City Council, The Centre Connecting Community in North & West Melbourne, and other agencies.

About 320 invitees came to listen to speakers discuss social issues affecting Sudanese Australians and their relationship with the wider Australian community. Eight speakers delivered speeches on a range of cultural and social topics, with multimedia support. Attendees were given the opportunity to experience Sudanese food, music, and to participate in focus groups to field ideas about how to tackle some of the issues raised by the speakers. The Social Issues Forum collected the participants' feedback for use in future planning.

The MSC held a second event, a Public Information Session , on 28 January 2008, at 12 Holland Court Flemington. This formed a key part of the post-Forum follow-up. About 70 attendees from the Victorian Sudanese community were given full information that had been collected and collated from the Social Issues Forum held the previous September. The Information Session was conducted in the Arabic language and was a comprehensive account of the suggestions and ideas put forward by service providers during the input sessions at the Social Issues Forum.

The Information Session put the wealth of knowledge and experience of the 320 attendees and eight expert speakers back into the hands of the Sudanese community. The information is especially valuable when the Sudanese community interacts with local service providers, government and police. Planning for future interactions and consultations between the Sudanese Community and various community groups and government agencies has already been facilitated as a result of the Information Session . It was very successful in informing local Sudanese community leaders about the results of the Forum.

The benefits from the Forum and Information Session were spread widely indeed, and have been experienced by the Victorian Sudanese community, community service providers, government agencies, Victoria and the wider Victorian public, as these groups seek to work together to address community issues affecting the Sudanese community and its neighbours.

The feedback of attendees at the Forum was more than encouraging; many participants reported that they had been provided with an extremely valuable opportunity to become informed about Sudanese Australian social issues and welcomed participating actively in focus groups.

The Social Issues Forum clearly provided a much-needed arena for the sharing of information between various groups involved with the Sudanese Australian Community in Victoria. The Forum covered essential and pressing topics in housing, education, law and order, family relationships, social services and employment.

In addition, Sudanese Australians were given a rare chance to represent themselves in a public forum - perhaps for the first time in Victoria. The benefits from this Forum , which required much planning and organization, will be felt in the Sudanese community and relevant social organisations for a long time to come.

Speakers Topics

  1. Sudanese Cultural Values and Religious Practice by Chris Machar, Multicultural Sudanese Centre
  2. Sudanese Family Values, Sudanese Lifestyle and Traditions, Roles of Men, Women and the Elderly in Sudanese Village Life by David Lukudu, Multicultural Sudanese Centre
  3. Sudanese Families and Settlement Experiences, Separation of Government and Private Service Providers, Differences in Social Organisations in Sudan and Australia by Tarni Perkal, Victorian Law Foundation
  4. Increasing Awareness of Legal Procedures within the Sudanese Community. Informing Service Providers about Legal Issues by Ali Gurdag, Victoria Police Community Liaison Officer
  5. Victorian Police experiences in working with Sudanese Australians
  6. The importance of working with the Sudanese community
  7. Cultural and Religious Issues Involved in Community Policing. Personal Experiences with Sudanese in Community Policing by Peter Hodson, Principal, Upfield Primary School
  8. Culture and Education
  9. Cultural Differences between School and Home. How Schools and Agencies Work Together with Sudanese Families. Legal & Educational Issues faced by Sudanese Youth by Akon Akon, Multicultural Sudanese Centre
  10. Sudanese Boys' Issues in Victoria
  11. Experiences Leaving Sudan as a Refugee. Issues faced by Refugees Affected by war, War-torn Migrant Families. Young Males' Experiences as Migrants or Refugees by Apiyo Palalam, Multicultural Sudanese Centre
  12. Sudanese girls' experiences
  13. Misunderstandings of the Concept of a "Free Society". Importance of Sudanese Youth Respecting Sudanese Culture.

The Forum was also addressed by Lindsay Tanner, Labor MP for Melbourne, Minister of Economic, who confirmed that the issues faced by the Sudanese community and other emerging African Victorian communities, was a priority for the State Government. He stressed that educational, cultural and legal issues were high on the agenda for the government.

Pre-Arrival Background to Sudanese Youth Issues

In 2000, United Nations agencies estimated that more than 50,000 children in the South had lost both their parents as a consequence of the civil war and another 170,000 had no information about their biological parents. These children were most likely isolated from their communities and families. Hundreds of children are still unaccompanied; some have been orphaned by war or famine and others are sent alone to seek food and safety. Commonly considered as a source of wealth due to the tradition of bride price, girls who are orphaned are particularly at risk of being exploited. They may be subject to abduction, slavery and forced marriage. Girls in the South are generally expected to submit to arranged marriages as a matter of custom. Many children have witnessed some form of severe trauma, leading in some cases to stress, nightmares, illness and anti-social behavior.

Many children from the South have been displaced to the northern regions of the country. Those who finish up in internal displaced people camps live on the streets and in shantytowns. They have little or no access to medical care, education, clean water and other important services. These young people are vulnerable to abduction, trafficking and a wide range of other threats and abuses. Many reports from UN organisations that have worked in Khartoum indicate that adolescent boys are abducted and forcibly recruited by the military government's armed forces. In 1996, Human Rights Watch estimated that approximately 2 million IDPs (Internally Displaced People) were living in and near Khartoum, and many are child labourers.

Male children sell plastic bags or water, shine shoes or work as waiters. They work after school or drop out to work as many hours as possible.

Female children are often involved in domestic activities in the city, returning to camps on weekends. Many drop out of school.

At least 34,000 street children are estimated to live in Khartoum; most come from displaced families originating from high-vulnerability areas. These children are often homeless, sleep on the streets and beg for food. They are commonly called "shamassa" meaning "children of the sun". Lack of protection for street children and IDP children makes them particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation by soldiers, militias and others. In one example in 2001, an 11-year-old internally displaced girl reported having been raped while in police custody.

Sudanese Refugee Children in Uganda

The majority of Sudanese refugees in Uganda live in 25 designated settlements. The LRA (Lord Resisting Army) regularly attack refugee sites. During raids, the LRA injures, abducts and kills children and adolescents. Women and girls are raped and subject to forced pregnancy and other forms of sexual violence. Attacks increased dramatically in 2002, since the LRA scattered in northern Uganda as a result of Uganda's Operation Iron Fist. In August 2002, the LRA attacked the Achol-pii refugee camp in northern Uganda, killing approximately 50 refugees, abducting children to join their ranks, looting and burning the camp and sending nearly 24,000 refugees from their homes. Five humanitarian aid workers were also abducted and later released. Many of the Acholi-pii refugees were subsequently relocated to the Kiryandongo refugee settlement in Masindi district.

In early October 2002, the LRA attacked Sudanese refugees in the Maaji refugee settlement in northern Adjumani District. An estimated 81,000 Sudanese refugees are housed in Maaji.

In a research survey led by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, Sudanese refugee children and adolescents and their Ugandan peers in northern Uganda identified insecurity, abductions, murder, lack of access to education and being orphaned as their most urgent concerns.

Sudanese Refugees Children in Kenya

Most Sudanese refugees in Kenya live in three camps in the northwest . Females in these camps greatly outnumber males. The situation in these Kakuma camps is described as a chronic emergency due to extreme poverty.

An attempt has been made to provide educational opportunities for the children involved in this humanitarian disaster. However, the classrooms in the camps are overcrowded, with nearly 20,000 students in 21 primary schools. UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) operates only three secondary schools and three vocational training schools. Due to the high female dropout rate one classroom designated for girls has been set up, but this is only a token gesture.

The Lost Children of Sudanese Families

The bombing of villages in southern Sudan in the late 1980s caused many families to be displaced from their homes or even killed. These attacks were carried out by both the Government and the rebels who included the SPDF ( Southern People Defense Force) and SPLA (Sudanese Peoples Liberation). Often children became separated from their parents as a result of these actions. Many male children were actually kidnapped by the rebel groups and forced to become child soldiers.

Child Soldiers

Child soldiers as young as age 8 years have been used by both the Government of Sudan and opposition forces.

In May 2002, the Interagency NGO (Non Government Organisation) report, Key to Peace, noted that there were at least 17,000 child soldiers in southern Sudan; the SPLM/A had admitted to having 13,500 child soldiers, while the former SPDF was believed to have at least 3,500. Since that time, UNICEF has announced the demobilization of thousands of child soldiers. On November 26, 2002, the UN Secretary-General stated in his report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict that the number of children remaining in SPLA ranks is unknown.

The SPLA forcibly recruits children age of 11 or les. This is generally done in advance of a particular offensive, as the SPLA does not maintain a large standing army. One child soldier said he enlisted because he had no other option. He said there was no food, the houses had all been burnt and the school was closed.

Education

The vast majority of children in the Sudan had been denied their right to education, and was unable to learn practical steps that could prepare them for the future; some children walked two hours each way to school, without breakfast or lunch. The situation was significantly worse for the girls, especially in Southern Sudan, where only 500 girls finished primary school each year. In fact, there was a shocking statistic from UNICEF in 2004 that a girl in Southern Sudan was more likely to die in childbirth than go to school.

During the war, girls' enrolment was among the lowest in the Sudan. Ironically, however, the enrolment had actually risen somewhat as a result of the current conflict.

In the past 20 years, adolescents were taught how to fire a gun -- never how to read and write. Only 6 per cent of communities in Southern Sudan were within walking distance of a secondary school. In some refugee camps, there were no secondary schools at all.

Forum Feedback:

Case studies were presented to discussion groups formed from different agencies, community leaders and service providers. A range of innovative solutions were fed back to the main group and many of their suggestions have been included in the conclusion and recommendations. The standard of the contributions from the participants was uniformly high.

The reports of the various discussion groups have been kept and will be used as a base for future developments. Another more subtle but still important outcome from the forum is the networking that occurred between the disparate agencies that have dealings with our community. By all parties having an understanding of what is being done resources can be streamlined and research capitalised upon.

Conclusion

This event the "Sudanese Australian Social Issues Forum" outlines the terrible situation of emerging Sudanese youth as they have begun to be resettled after 20 years of war.

The moral challenge should be to accept an emerging Sudanese young people as part of this society, and look at the ways in which the problems can actually be corrected.

In the past 20 years, Sudanese adolescents were taught how to fire a gun -- never how to read and write. This terrible situation changed their behaviour completely. In traditional Sudanese culture, boys are taught to be men from a young age and not to back off from a fight.

The major cause of crime in the community is structural disadvantage; large families do not receive adequate housing, with several children sharing small rooms and low income. Others have strong employment qualifications but remain unemployed as Australia does not recognise their expertise and experience.

Children struggle at school because they only have nine months to learn English before being put in classes based on their age, rather than ability. This means that many young people exit school without adequate numeracy and literacy skills that will support their career and job opportunities.

Australian society often misunderstands and misinterprets the uniqueness and richness of Sudanese Culture, its social mores and nuances particularly in terms of language and behavior with authority figures. Numerous examples exist of cultural misunderstandings between young people and police, teachers, and neighbors, where language and the intention behind the language are different in each society and therefore easily confused or misinterpreted.

Anti-Sudanese sentiment currently exists in parts of Australian Society. These sectors of the community have issued strident warnings that an increase in the settlement of African refugees, in particular Sudanese, will lead to a surge in crime and violence. Anti resettlement attitudes are affecting members of the Sudanese community by increasing their levels of alienation and marginalisation.

The Multicultural Sudanese Centre strongly accepts that alcohol and drug use, sexual assaults, homelessness, family breakdown, child discipline problems and driving offences have been increasing in some areas of the Sudanese Community in Victoria. Rather than accepting vilification and criticism from Australian Society we are looking for support from Australians to strengthen our community and resolve our problems.

Multicultural Sudanese Centre Inc is seeking government support to set up a special Community Cultural Support Centre to enhance and increase the connections and communication between Victorian police, social workers and schools to deliver comprehensive consultations on behalf of young Sudanese and their families.

A series of high-profile court cases have highlighted a number of criminal justice issues for the Sudanese Community. Currently there are large numbers of Sudanese young people in Victorian jails who would benefit from a juvenile justice system that strongly considers culture in court decisions similar to Australia's indigenous juvenile justice system.

Many school teachers report difficulties in dealing with Sudanese students. This is often because of their lack of respect for authority, challenging behaviours far worse than other Australian students, and the extent of social support problems they may be facing. The issues confronting Sudanese students include having no uniform, no textbooks, no shoes, no public transport tickets, and an inability to pay for the recreational and social opportunities that other students take for granted. Families find themselves under pressure due to their very low incomes and the increasing cost of public education.

One of the major problems faced by Sudanese families is the increasing numbers of young Sudanese children and adolescents who are legally taken into foster care due to various family circumstances. This of itself can result in homelessness, dropping out of school, involvement in crime and other anti social behaviours.

The Australian media and Australian society in general need to change the focus away from accusing refugees of crimes and concentrate on preventing these new arrivals becoming victims of crime. Remember that many refugees to this country are quite vulnerable and may have been the victims of war crimes, torture and other abominable criminal acts and therefore need to be supported and given respect and empathy rather than treated with contempt and suspicion.

Recommendations

  1. A multiethnic committee should be formed to include police, service providers, government agencies and representatives from Sudanese communities. This body should have a clear mandate to monitor assaults, family breakdown and abuses against Sudanese children and young people.
  2. Specialized educational programs should be established to assist young people who have missed opportunities to go to school during civil war in Sudan.
  3. Specific mental health service program should be developed that target young people who are at risk of difficulties. For example, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stresses syndrome (due to experiences of war), family break-up stresses, or anti-social behaviour.
  4. Innovative programs should be established that allow Sudanese students to work cooperatively with others of differing backgrounds to create such projects as an everlasting piece of artwork, a cultural day, radio broadcasts, or even to produce a digital film. It is to be hoped these ventures would promote cross-cultural awareness.
  5. A multicultural mediation team should be formed with the ability to intervene in disputes that may occur between established Australian communities and the newly-arrived Sudanese people. The idea is to promote understanding and tolerance at an early stage before matters get out of hand. This body would require resourcing and training to enhance its skills in bringing people together.
  6. Research needs to be done as to why members of particular ethnic groups are more prone to family disintegration, and the associated difficulties that develop through failures to assimilate into the wider community.

Sources:

Project Information, Sleeping Sickness - www.careusa.org/careswork/project.asp?project=SDN064

Project Information, Wau Girls Education Project - www.careusa.org/careswork/project.asp?project=SDN080

Female Genital Mutilation Education and Networking Project, FGM in Africa: Statistics - www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/stats.html

Sudan : Over 500 child soldiers demobilized in south

Medical supplies and village deliberately looted in Nimne, Western Upper Nile,. February 7, 2002

MSF denounces killing of local health worker and civilians in southern Sudan ,. February 15, 2002

Reintegration and recovery of displaced persons in Sudan: A report of the Interagency Mission 1-17 November 2002 , December 2002

Save the Children, Sudan Emergency Appeal, .The Children of Sudan: Innocent Victims of War and Famine - www.savethechildren.org/press/pr_children-sudan.html

Small Arms Survey 2001:Profiling the Problem

Sudan People's Liberation Movement, Sudan People's Democratic Front, Alternative Report on the Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 2000

UNICEF Operations in Southern Sudan and Africa Educational Trust, School Baseline Assessment

Report Southern Sudan , May 2002

Sudan: Ugandan Children Escape From Rebels , June 6, 2002 - www.womenscommission.org/media/Women'sCommission_pr061302.htm

Participatory Research Study with Adolescents in Northern Uganda, Against All Odds: Surviving the War on Adolescents, 2001

World Organization Against Torture, Violence Against Women and Girls in Sudan , 2002

 

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