GANG UP TO STOP GANGS

IMMIGRANT and refugee families in Winnipeg have for months now warned
the pressures and pitfalls they and their children are running into
are creating havoc in some homes.

The rise of immigrant youth gangs -- implicated in the slaying of an
innocent bystander in the West End Monday -- is the extreme result of
failing to grapple with the challenges. The problem is beyond the
sole capacity of police. Manitoba has been slow to meet the need.

The primary difficulties for immigrants are acquiring language skills
and jobs. This is especially true for refugees as it is often
compounded by a lack of education, which is disrupted by war or life
in refugee camps. Many youths have honed skills for survival in
war-torn societies and in refugee camps where gangs and tribal or
ethnic rivalries flourish. Some are scarred by seeing families ripped
apart and relatives killed. This changes the settlement issues
dramatically for the province.

Between 2002 and 2004, Manitoba saw immigration rise by 60 per cent,
welcoming 7,427 newcomers. The number of refugees increased by 38 per
cent, to 1,252. Most refugees land in Winnipeg and find housing in
the centre of the city, where poverty and social problems have
provided fertile grounds for gangs. Parents have complained that with
poor English, and the psychological wounds of their past, their
children can easily fall into crime and are prime pickings for gangs.
The fact that two gangs have formed from primarily African immigrant
youth reflects the gravity of that concern.

More police work alone cannot do the trick. One of the first lines of
defence against this scourge is to successfully integrate youths into
school. That requires intensive English-language instruction,
additional supports in the classroom, counselling and creative means
to help children who have missed schooling for years acquire basic
academic skills.

The government has not responded fast enough to the complex needs of
these youths and their families. The province has increased funding
somewhat to settlement agencies, employment groups and organizations
delivering English as a second language instruction. But children
still are stumbling about the school system, settlement agencies and
families report. There is a game plan to boost the impact of ESL
instruction, but details and timelines are hazy. Further, mental
health services, chronically the poor cousin of health care, need to
ramp up. Gary Doer's administration has declared war on drug traders
and criminal gangs, targeting increased law enforcement and
prosecution. But Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act is precious
little ammunition against the experiences of Manitoba's
battle-scarred refugees. What they need is for the province to bring
together families, schools and aid agencies to give young people the
help they need to succeed, foremost in school. Mr. Doer should direct
his citizenship, education and health ministers to make that job a priority.