Press Release: Condemnation of the “Sky News Australia” Misleading Report on South Sudanese Community in Victoria, Australia
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Media Release
Society of South Sudanese Professionals
Melbourne, Victoria
28th June, 2020
Condemnation of the 26th June Sky News Misleading Report On South Sudanese Victoria by Peta Credlin
Sunday, June 28, 2020 (PW) — The Society of South Sudanese Professionals and the entire South Sudanese Community of Victoria is outraged and dismayed at what we believe to be a misleading and targeted attack on Victoria’s South Sudanese community by Sky News. The news report, dated 26th June, titled Poorly assimilated migrants spark virus outbreak by failing to abide by COVID rules, included several claims that were untrue or misleading, and offensive.
The report opens by claiming a coronavirus outbreak in Victoria was“triggered by an end-of-Ramadan feast”, which Ms Credlin blames on “poor adaptation of particular migrant groups to the English-speaking Australian culture”, before immediately referencing Melbourne’s South Sudanese community. This creates a false link between the outbreak and South Sudanese people. It is estimated over 90% of South Sudanese in Victoria are Christian and as such very unlikely to attend Ramadanfestivities. But most importantly, South Sudanese people are abiding by COVID-19 restrictions, evidenced by extremely low numbers of infection in the South Sudanese community.
Ms Credlin also claimed her unnamed sources (reportedly “community leaders”) said “Melbourne’s South Sudanese were not aware of social distancing rules because while migrants can speak Dinka they cannot read it because many, especially women, were banned from attending school in their former homeland.” This is false. Women and girls are notbanned from attending schools in South Sudan. The war and other factors meant many children were unable to go to school, but this was not ideological and not something the migrant community has continued in Australia.
Moreover, the Dinka language is one of 64 dialects spoken by Victoria’s South Sudanese community. The Victorian Government, out of recognition of the large number of Dinka-speaking South Sudanese in Melbourne, translated many resources into Dinka and other dialects. If someone cannot read Dinka, they often have the option of an audio resource. Communication within the community is also strong and people are as aware of the social-distancing restrictions as everyone else in Australia. The very low rate of infection is evidence these rules are being followed.
Ms Credlin goes on to claim her sources argue the Australian Government should “empower migrants communities (sic) by funding the delivery of virus messages via the spoken Dinka language through door knocking homes and phone calls.” The South Sudanese community does not need this support. They know the rules and the results speak for themselves.
MS Credlin also linked 2016 census data showing 32% unemployment in the South Sudanese population to 15% not speaking English. This is a misuse of data. Other factors drive higher unemployment, including obstacles created by the many discriminatory reports by Sky News targeting the South Sudanese Community.
SSSPA considers this report a serious assault on South Sudanese Victorians. Irresponsible journalism can cause immense damage and further smears, a community already unfairly targeted. We condemn Ms Credlin and Sky News for this misleading and inflammatory report and request their public apology to the South Sudanese Community.
Media Contact:
Ms Awur Majak
Phone: 0431 227 522
Email: info.ssspa@gmail.com
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