Immigrant members of Aust'n youth crime gang to be deported

Australian authorities have confirmed that a number of people belonging to violent youth street gangs will be deported.

In a statement issued on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Victoria Police said it had "an established process with the Australian Border Force regarding offenders who have committed serious criminal offences and meet the requirement for visa cancellations under the Migration Act."

"This process has resulted in previous referral by us of a number of offenders, including some allegedly associated with the Apex gang," she said.

"These referrals have resulted in a number of deportations of adult offenders."

The Apex Gang, formed in 2012, has grown in size to hundreds of young members across Melbourne and has been partly responsible for a crime wave which has hit the city.

Apex rose to notoriety after a spate of car thefts across the city but has recently began to branch out into stealing from homes as well as cars.

Many of the Apex members to be deported are juvenile offenders who are still serving their sentences.

The spokeswoman told Fairfax Media that the deportation of children aged under 18 would only happen in exceptional circumstances.

"The decision to apply for the cancellation of a person's visa is not taken lightly."

One of the men to be deported once his sentence ends is Sudanese man Isaac Gatkuoth, who was sentenced to 20 months in youth detention after he pointed a sawn-off shotgun in a man's face during a carjacking.

In May 2016, County Court Judge Mark Taft said Gatkuoth had a significant criminal record and was concerned by the escalation in the frequency and scale of his offending.

Gatkuoth came to Australia at nine years old and that his memories of Sudan were of gangs, violence and weapons.

"I entirely accept that your formative years have been wretched. That, however, does not excuse your violent conduct," Taft told the then-19-year-old.

source: Xinhua