“We are a community under siege at the moment, because of that tragic incident,” says Beny Bol, a refugee from South Sudan and a leader among Queensland’s African diaspora.
Police have charged a 16-year-old boy with murder in relation to the stabbing death of Ipswich woman Vyleen White in a shopping centre car park in front of her six-year-old granddaughter. Four other boys have been arrested and face charges related to her allegedly stolen vehicle.
The incident has stirred visceral reactions; an outpouring of grief in Brisbane’s outskirts. In some cases that grief has given way to vitriol – directed at people of African descent.
Footage released by police at the weekend showed four black males allegedly with White’s car, described as “people of interest” that police wished to locate. Police have not spoken publicly about the nationalities of the individuals that were subsequently arrested in connection with the incident.
Bol, the president of the Queensland African Communities Council, told Guardian Australia that incidents targeting African people had become worrying. He has told workers at the African centre in Redbank Plains, near where the stabbing occurred, to stay away after some said they had experienced abuse while heading to work on Monday.
“Over the last 24 hours I’ve received a large number of reports of people … who are being physically attacked while going to work or shopping,” Bol said.
“I’ve had a story of a young African girl who went to the shop and saw someone throw something at her [and say] ‘you’re monkeys, go back to where you came from’.
“The commentary on social media I can’t even talk about it, the level of stress that’s causing to the community, that’s unacceptable. Children are refusing to go to school because of the fear, too many people have been abused.”
The premier, Steven Miles, addressed concerns at a press conference on Tuesday.
“There’s no place for this to be viewed through a racial lens,” Miles said.
“There’s just no place for that kind of response or racism in our state and I would condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Division and unity
The Town Square Redbank Plains shopping centre was busy again by Tuesday. The underground car park where White was stabbed was open, but empty.
Guardian Australia visited the centre and spoke to several people with concerns about crime.
Some blame concerns about safety on the area’s African community.
Guardian Australia spoke to some people who expressed views similar to those in newspaper columns, and by some far-right politicians, who believed cultural issues were at play.
On Tuesday, the Courier Mail published an opinion piece by an associate editor that sought to blame migrants and made unsupported claims that “it seems a disproportionate number of crimes are committed by minorities who have failed to take note of the culture into which they’ve come”.
Bol bristles at the suggestion. He wants to make clear that the entire community – including people of African descent – were appalled by and had condemned the crime.
Bol said the justice system held individuals to account but that members of the African community were being collectively blamed for the alleged actions of some young people.
“We don’t want any other family to go through the same thing again. We are all united to make sure our hearts are out there for the family of the victim. We need to prevent those things from happening in our community.
“It’s sad to see there are members of our Australian community that fail to see the benefit of our multicultural democracy. We’ve seen around the world countries where … institutions have failed to accommodate diverse cultural institutions. We cannot be divided on race and religion.”
‘We all live together’
Online commentary, including on the pages of prominent Queensland anti-crime lobby groups, has veered from calls for the boys to be deported to those suggesting they should be killed.
Responding to concerns about threats made towards members of the African community, Det Acting Supt Heath McQueen said Ipswich police had spoken with community leaders who “condemned what has occurred here”.
“Categorically, vigilantism has no place in our society … there is no place for that, I stand before you today and I’ve told you we’ve identified the person of interest for this offence.
“What we don’t want is any more community behaviour causing any more fear or angst on any person. We all live together collectively in the community and that’s what we aim to achieve.”
Asked about comments from White’s husband, Victor, saying crime laws were “weak as water”, Miles said: “I completely understand how Victor is feeling, he’s grieving and is sad and angry … It’s an awful crime.
“But nobody can seriously stand up and say they could have prevented this further.
“I’ve heard some politicians get very close to saying that they guarantee they could have prevented this murder. That’s a pretty incredible statement to be trying to make.”
A vicious cycle
Rob White, a professor of criminology at the University of Tasmania, speaking generally, said the trend was towards fewer crimes being committed by migrant and refugee communities.
“Each crime needs to be examined on a case-by-case basis rather than commentators relying on gross generalisations about whole communities,” White said.
“Specific individuals are guilty of crime – communities are not. They need to be held to account, and suitable and appropriate sanctions and remedies applied.”
White said that “moral panics” – especially targeting visible minorities and First Nations people – could simultaneously encourage racist attacks, and generate resentment and resistance within those communities.
“This is a vicious cycle in which no one is the winner … It further entrenches fear of crime and fear of the ‘other’ in the wider Australian community.”
Esther Gayflor came to Australia in 2004 as a refugee from the Liberian civil war. She works as a disability support worker and had shopped regularly at Town Square Redbank Plains for several years, even before 2016 when it was renovated.
“This is affecting me both ways,” she said.
“It shouldn’t have happened. I think for the families.
“At work we’ve been separated now. People talk about it in the individual groups [of Africans and non-Africans]. And I prefer that we talk about it as a community.”
“We are all grieving. We are all feeling the impact. But we’re meant to be together as colleagues to talk about it, not to point the finger.”
