September 27, 2007 herald sun
VIOLENT youths are threatening to turn parts of suburbs into `no go zones', a prominent social worker fears.
The Open Family's Les Twentyman said jobless and disaffected youths carrying knives and other weapons were a growing concern across Melbourne.
Mr Twentyman said it was a tragedy that children as young as 11 were getting involved with drugs and gangs ...
Mr Twentyman said young unemployed migrants from harsh backgrounds and on a culture collision course were another emerging problem.
"These kids are not frightened of jail. Jail is like Buckingham Palace compared with where some of them come from."
His comments follow a brutal bashing in Noble Park that has left a teenager clinging to life in a coma.
Local residents found the 18-year-old Sudanese-born student on the nature strip in Mons Parade at 10.30pm last night ...
Multicultural undercurrents
A 19-year-old Sudanese student is fighting for life after a bashing at Noble Park.
It is uncertain who did it but the bashing follows an earlier confrontation with a South African youth.
It is reasonable to ask whether this is the latest manifestation of ethnic tension.
Noble Park has changed in recent years and is a hotspot, along with Dandenong and Springvale, for trouble between gangs of North Africans and Pacific islanders ...
