Australia–South Sudan relations

Australian-South Sudanese relations is the official relations between Australia and South Sudan. While the two countries do not have official embassies in each other's nation, they share a strong and common tie.[1]

Australia–South Sudan relations

Australia
South Sudan

Historical and current tie

Both were formerly parts of the British Empire, and use the English language as the main language in both nations.

Throughout the Sudanese Civil Wars (1955–1972 and 1983–2005), many South Sudanese refugees had sought refuge in Kenya, in which Australia would be one of the first countries to announce their support in resettling South Sudanese refugees to the country. Thus, the South Sudanese community in Australia was the first ever organized African community in Australia, and also the largest African diaspora in the country.[2]

When South Sudan gained independence in 2011, Australia was one of the first countries to recognize South Sudan. However, due to the ongoing South Sudanese Civil War, this forced Australia to play its peacekeeping role over the nation. Although due to large South Sudanese diaspora in the country, Australia was asked to take a larger role.[3]

South Sudanese in Australia

South Sudanese refugees first arrived to Australia during 1990s.[4]

While South Sudanese community in Australia tends to be well-integrated, racial abuses and racism remain an issue in the country. Ongoing crime activities caused by South Sudanese gangs prompted hostility and racial xenophobia against South Sudanese by Australians caused fears for growing South Sudanese people in the country.[5] Racial issue also played a reason for the cancel of South Sudanese Australian Basketball Association Summer Slam in 2018.[6]

Nonetheless, a number of famous South Sudanese Australians had taken steps to slow anti-South Sudanese sentiment in Australia. Notable figures include Awer Mabil, who won FIFA global award for his charity works over South Sudanese refugees in Kenya;[7] to Thomas Deng, Abraham Majok and Bruce Kamau.

See also

References
  1. "South Sudan". Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved Mar 31, 2019.
  2. https://www.cambridgescholars.com/download/sample/60496
  3. Phillips, Melissa. "Peace efforts in South Sudan: could Australia play a bigger role?". The Conversation. Retrieved Mar 31, 2019.
  4. "Origins: History of immigration from South Sudan - Immigration Museum, Melbourne Australia". museumsvictoria.com.au. Retrieved Mar 31, 2019.
  5. Henriques-Gomes, Luke (Jul 24, 2018). "'It's not safe for us': South Sudanese-Australians weather 'African gangs' storm". Retrieved Mar 31, 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. Rathbone, Keith. "How a race scare left South Sudanese star basketballers with nowhere to play". The Conversation. Retrieved Mar 31, 2019.
  7. "Awer Mabil wins global award for refugee work in Kenya". Socceroos. Retrieved Mar 31, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.