Sudanese Australians () are people of Sudanese origin or descent living in Australia. The largest population of Sudanese Australians reside in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

(6,085).

Brief history

Early migration

Before the

First Sudanese Civil War The First Sudanese Civil War (also known as the Anyanya Rebellion or Anyanya I, after the name of the rebels, a term in the Madi language which means 'snake venom') was fought from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the sout ...

, most Sudanese migrants arrived in Australia to pursue educational opportunities in both undergraduate and post graduate institutions across Australia. The large number of Sudanese migrant settled in the states like Victoria and New South Wales.

After the first civil war

A larger influx of Sudanese emigrated to Australia as a result of political and economic problems. The most noticeable exodus occurred among professional and middle class Sudanese who along with their children took advantage of education and employment opportunities in Australia to emigrate.

After the second civil war

Since 1983, fighting between Sudan's government and the rebels in the south has killed about two million people. The fighting in Sudan has interfered with the production and distribution of food and caused widespread hunger. Many civilians in southern Sudan had fled their region because of this crisis. Some Sudanese Australians returned to their ancestral homeland when the conflict officially ended in 2005. Sudanese Australians were the object of a

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", usually perpetuated by moral e ...

around supposed gang crime in Victoria in the period of 2007 to 2018, where the press and coalition politicians employed racialised criminalising language and exaggerated and distorted reporting of incidents involving, or allegedly involving, Sudanese Australians.

Census data

The recorded 19,369 people born in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. Of these, the largest number were living in the state of

, (6,085), followed by

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(5,629),

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

(2,722) and then

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

(2,582). 17,186 people indicated that they were of full or partial Sudanese ancestry. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship notes that

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

became independent from the Republic of Sudan on 9 July 2011, shortly before the census, and that "country of birth figures as completed by individuals at the time of the 2011 Census may not fully reflect this change". The census, held in August, included both Sudan and South Sudan amongst the country of birth and ancestry options. According to the , there were 19,049 Sudanese-born Australian residents, many of whom had arrived very recently: 77% since 2000. Between 1996 and 2005, the largest increase in Australian people born overseas were Sudanese, at 28% per year. Other fast-growing overseas-born groups were people from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

(12% average increase per year) and Iraq (10%). Australian residents from

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

increased on average by 6% per year over this period.Australian Bureau of Statistics ''Australian Migration''
/ref> In the 2006 Census 17,848 residents in Australia reported having Sudanese ancestry. People of Sudanese descent now live in almost every capital city in Australia, particularly

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

(5,911),

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

(5,335) and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

(1,993)

Notable Sudanese Australians

Yassmin Abdel-Magied Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a Sudanese–Australian media presenter and writer, who had an early career as a mechanical engineer. She was named Young Queenslander of the Year in 2010 and Queensland Australian of the Year in 2015 for her engagemen ...

- Engineer, author, television presenter and activist

References

External links

Sudanese Stories - An oral history project recording the migration journeys and settlement experiences of southern Sudanese refugees now living in Blacktown, Western Sydney.

Australian Migration ABS migration statistics
{{Sudanese diaspora * Australia–Sudan relations

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...