In this together: From left, Acting Inspector Ian Gillespie, Sudanese youth Kor, Nasir Community Development Agency executive director Gatwech Kulang and Multicultural Liaison Unit Senior Constable Joey Herrech will head to South Sudan next week to learn more about Sudanese culture and to understand why so many citizens are fleeing the country.By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG Police will tour strife-torn Sudan in a bid to strengthen relationships between local Sudanese refugees and the Victorian police force.
Senior Constable Joey Herrech of the Region Five Multicultural Liaison Unit and Acting Inspector Ian Gillespie will be part of a 13-person tour to South Sudan, where they will gain an important insight into Sudanese culture, film a video documentary and help construct a primary school in a township previously devastated by a bloody civil war.
The Nasir Community Development Agency, headed by Gatwech Kulang, is coordinating the tour, which will depart on Monday for three weeks.
Mr Kulang said the group would land in Nairobi before flying to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, for two days liaising with South Sudanese government officials.
After that it will move on to Malakal and visit schools and universities before then arriving in Nasir, where aside from delving into the cultural delights, the group will help to build a new primary school.
Mr Kulang said every member of the tour was paying his or her own way, and Victoria Police were sponsoring Sen Const Herrech and Acting Insp Gillespie’s costs.
Region Five Assistant Commissioner Paul Evans and the force’s Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon have thrown their full support behind its officers.
Sen Const Herrech will film a video documentary that intends on showing police in Victoria following the tour.
Mr Kulang praised the support from police, and said it would only give Victoria Police greater credibility in the eyes of local Sudanese refugees who had only been exposed to corrupt police and military figures in their homeland.
Victoria Police figures show that in the 2005-06 financial year there were a total of 327 offenders identified as being born in Sudan.
While a large number resided in Greater Dandenong, police said the number only reflected one per cent of the total number of offenders recorded in the area.
Sen Const Herrech said he had already built strong relationships with local Sudanese refugees, and they were excited about the tour.
“They keep asking me if I can take a letter to their family or go and visit their uncle,” he said.
“The response has been fantastic and I am really looking forward to the tour and to bringing back some invaluable insight and information.”
Mr Kulang said he hoped the tour, including police participation, would become an annual event.
