Arabic version: مجموعات باسيفيكا تعمل على إبعاد الشباب عن جرائم العصابات
According to ABC News, NSW police and Pasifika community groups are responding to an increase in Pacific Islander teenagers becoming involved in crime and alleged gang networks. Police say Sydney’s latest gangland conflict is being driven by a power struggle involving the Alameddine crime family and the self-proclaimed Coconut Cartel, whose members have links to the Pacific Islander community.
Superintendent Phil Hallinan said police were aware of the Coconut Cartel and groups traditionally associated with Pacific Islander backgrounds. He said some young people recruited into crime may be drawn in by people they know, trust or look up to. NSW Parliament last week passed reforms under which children can face adult penalties for some organised crime-related offences, including public shootings and fire-bombings.
Former gang member Joseph “Malik” Nikua said he received his first charge, grievous bodily harm, at 15. He said the limited consequences he experienced then emboldened him, and he later started a youth gang that developed into the Inner West Brotherhood and drill rap group 21 District. Nikua now supports tougher consequences for juvenile offenders and, with brothers Jay and Ronnie, has launched a podcast and undertaken outreach work intended to steer at-risk young people away from crime.
Community initiatives are also providing mentoring and family support. Bruce Pikula, founder of Pacific and Australian Community Services, runs sessions at Oran Park Leisure Centre for young people who may be at risk, disengaged or referred by Youth Justice. Pasifika officers from the Pacific Officers Law Enforcement Network attend weekly sessions in Sydney’s west. At Cobham Youth Justice Centre, an expanded Pasifika program includes parents and seeks to help mediate rival gang issues by focusing on participants’ shared values and commonalities.
A teenager in the Cobham program told 7.30 that detention had changed his perspective after he realised friends were not there for him while he was inside. He said increased financial pressure and a lack of role models contributed to more teenagers entering crime, while mentors and programs had helped him consider who he wanted to become.
