Crime and refugees: The case of Sudanese Australians

G. Coventry1, D. Palmer2*

1 Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Social Sciences, James Cook University
2 Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia

*Garry Coventry: garry.coventry@jcu.edu.au

This paper analyses Sudanese Australian perceptions of policing and criminal victimisation in four Queensland communities, alongside Queensland Police Service (QPS) perspectives on Sudanese Australian attitudes regarding policing matters. There is very little research literature on humanitarian refugee-based crime, victimisation and the perspectives of these communities and police perspectives. These voices of both communities and police are necessary in attempts to encapsulate and further more proactive police-community interaction and relationships.

As part of a larger project, this paper has two main sections. The first, focuses on residents of Queensland Sudanese Australian communities views about policing and criminal justice. Importantly, we also examine the extent to which Sudanese Australians are willing to report their victimisation.

Second, it reports on QPS personnel views of the interactions of Sudanese Australians with the criminal justice system and the extent to which these communities represent a crime problem and the ways in which the QPS has attempted to enhance police-community relations, including through the use of Police Liaison Officers.

Finally, we locate this research within the broader Australian context and current debates about humanitarian refugees, crime and policing.

Biography

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