Our Sudanese refugees pose a question

(Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun, January 2007)

... Of course one sick criminal does not define a whole community. Of course most Sudanese would be utterly horrified by this attack. Of course many Sudanese will make excellent contributions to this country. Of course, and of course and of course.

But it’s also clear that a worrying number of Sudanese immigrants - coming from a very different culture and a much poorer country with much lower standards of education - are struggling to make their way here and to integrate.

Recent signs of that include a huge brawl, worries by Sudanese parents about their uncontrollable children dropping out, concerns by teachers of a lack of “life skills”, vicious assaults, and police warnings of gang violence.

A state school principal has also told me how very hard she’s found it to integrate the African students in her school, given how few of them have any English or much respect for authority. What makes her challenge worse, she says, is that she has so many of them, leading then naturally to form a “gang” rather than be forced to assimilate.

We can ignore all this, as we usually, do and shout “racist” at those who point out that we have a problem.

But we need to rethink just how - or even whether - we resettle immigrants whose culture is so very, very different.

... On 3AW, a Sudanese community spokeswoman asks for understanding:

The implication of this journey [as a refugee] could make people prone to be violent.

Er, OK.

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