Highlights
- A Nepali-origin grocery shop owner in Tasmania says he has been the victim of theft and vandalism, and suspects he was targeted as a migrant
- Community leaders say many have felt subtle discrimination in the state
- Incumbent MP Andrew Wilkie acknowledges that police in Tasmania need more training on cultural awareness
Saroj Khatri's family-owned grocery store sits just across the street from the Multicultural Council of Tasmania’s office in Hobart.
However, the Nepali-origin business owner said he doesn’t feel entirely safe despite receiving support from the city’s diverse community.
Mr Khatri told SBS Nepali he feels the city has faced an uptick in immigrant-targeted incidents.
“In the last two years my shop has been broken into twice,” he said, adding that “other immigrant-owned businesses have encountered similar incidents”.
At the same time that Mr Khatri was expressing his security concerns, Andrew Wilkie, the incumbent federal MP for Clark and a candidate for the upcoming election, was across the road.
Mr Wilkie, who was attending an election-related interactive program organised by SBS Radio, was asked about Mr Khatri's claims.
Mr Wilkie said that although he was not aware of any racially motivated incidents, there may have been some cases.
“I am not aware of any hard evidence of any crime being racially motivated; I suspect some of it is vandalism and that sort of thing.”
He said Tasmania is growing more accepting of multiculturalism.
“It [Tasmania] has predominantly an Anglo-Saxon background. So there have been some growing pains in this part of the world when it comes to increasing diversity and the blossoming multiculturalism.”
Mr Khatri said he has felt threatened by a string of incidents.
According to Mr Khatri, in October 2020, his shop's backdoor was cut into a square shape with items stolen and a freezer smashed.
Mr Khatri has covered the hole in the door but says the broken freezer still needs fixing. Source: Supplied
Although the shop's CCTV was not working a that time because of a flat battery, he said that his neighbour called the police, who later informed him that a group of five people had arrived in a van and entered his shop.
Mr Khatri claimed his shop was then targeted by some "teenagers", but he was left disappointed with the response from the police.
"I put an open sign flag outside [the store] and it got stolen. I called the police, but the police demotivated us. They asked, do I want to press charges for such a small thing.
”The first time some teenagers cut the flag and the second time after I put out a new sign they took the flag and ran away.”
He alleged that the same group came back and stole $125 worth of drinks and statues, and that they also committed similar crimes at another shop called Middle Eastern Bazaar two buildings away.
In response, Mr Wilkie said government agencies and especially the police have a duty to ensure the safety of the people. The MP said that if Mr Khatri feels he has been treated differently due to his background, he himself “will file a formal complaint to the police”.
Mr Wilkie also acknowledged that he had heard of similar complaints, and said Tasmanian Police must be trained to handle those situations.
“I do observe though that those sorts of complaints come to me from time to time from all sorts of people and I think we do have something that can be improved here in Tasmania.”
When reached for comment, Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Jonathan Higgins said, “There is no excuse for any form of verbal or physical abuse in our community.”
According to Mr Higgins, the police force offers a range of cultural awareness training, including workshops where a group of young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds share their experiences, discuss customs within their cultures, and highlight barriers that may arise when interacting with police.
Mr Higgins said that along with running workplace communication lessons surrounding biases, stereotypes, and barriers to communication, they regularly interact with the stakeholders.
“Tasmania Police regularly engages with the Multicultural Council of Tasmania and other key stakeholders in relation to the topic,” he said.
On the issue, Mr Wilkie said, “I think our training for police officers can be better and I think it can include more training in cultural awareness, how to deal with people with different cultural backgrounds.”
Mr Wilkie visited Mr Khatri’s shop and talked to the owner about the incidents.
Saroj Khatri says his shop has been broken into twice within two years. Source: SBS Nepali
Contesting the seat of Clark alongside Mr Wilkie in the May election are Simon Davis from the Australian Labor Party, Will Coats from Liberal, Janet Shelley from The Greens, Sandra Galloway of United Australia Party, Casey Davies from Animal Justice Party and Ian Ramsden from Liberal Democrats.
‘Indirect discrimination’
Mr Khatri is not the only Nepali in Tasmania who says they have experienced racism.
Khagendra Satyal, president of the Nepali Community in Tasmania, said he has heard about cases of “indirect racism” largely related to renting houses and gaining employment.
Khagendra Satyal, president of the Nepali Community in Tasmania, talking to SBS Nepali Source: SBS Radio
Sudip Rajak is the vice-president of the Nepali Society in Northern Tasmania and he said racism is not about people, but about education.
“In my personal experience, racism is not about the person, it is about the education. I have never seen people practicing racism who are from an educated background and who had a good upbringing.”
Gillian Long is the CEO of the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania and she said they are not aware of any incidents like Mr Khatri’s within the community.
But according to Ms Long, the centre has programs targeted at young people from migrant communities who feel they have been or have been the victim of discrimination.
“Particularly in our youth program, we are working with young people who often feel discriminated against and have been the victim of racism, particularly at schools.”
Gillian Long says the centre provides support to the young people from migrant communities who are victims of discrimination. Source: SBS Radio
Diverse needs for a diverse community
Khadga Thapa, a Nepali speaker of Bhutanese background, expressed his gratitude to the Australian government for welcoming him with open arms.
However, he pointed to the language barrier and the drain of people leaving for more opportunities in other states as the biggest challenges faced by the Bhutanese community in Tasmania.
“Migrant communities, especially like ours [Bhutanese Nepali speaking community], have a huge language barrier in adults and the adult population is high.”
(From left) Nabaraj Mudwari, Khadga Thapa and Sudip Rajak shared the common concerns of Nepali language speaking communities in Tasmania. Source: SBS Radio
Nabaraj Mudwari, a resident of Launceston, on the other hand, said that the problems of Nepali speakers with a refugee background and Nepali speakers on skilled migrant visas should be addressed separately.
“We Nepali migrants are not asking for refugee welfare, but we hope our issues are looked at distinctively at the policy level.”
He said that although the language barrier is not such a big problem for those on skilled visas, other issues like a lack of facilities for sport and Nepali language classes remain outstanding.
Ross Hart, the Labor candidate for Bass, who participated in the election exchange program, said he was aware of the issues raised by Mr Mudwari and that a process was underway to address them.
Ross Hart, Labor Candidate for Bass, acknowledges the concerns of the Nepali speaking community in Northern Tasmania. Source: SBS Radio
Other candidates are Cecily Rosol (The Greens), Bob Salt (Jacqui Lambie Network) and Melanie Davy (Pauline Hanson's One Nation).
