Camden and Crime

Many residents in the town of Camden, in Sydney’s south west, are enraged that Muslims are supposedly “invading” their rural community, bringing with them all sorts of criminal behaviours and social pathologies.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

The proposed Islamic school for Camden has outraged thousands of residents, some of whom say it would bring violence to the suburb and turn it into a “dirty looking town like Lakemba”.

And they are going to extraordinary lengths to prevent their little town turning into Lakemba. The Sun Herald reports today that:

Property industry sources and concerned residents said agents at Wednesday night’s meeting debated the issue of selling homes to Muslim families wanting to relocate to the area.

Some residents are even attempting to enlist the help of God:

A large wooden crucifix had been erected at the school’s proposed site, accompanied by a Bible passage that reads: “David and Goliath. The battle is won. This is the King of Kings Land. Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. (Eph 6:18).”

Reading some of the comments by Camden residents, one might come to the conclusion that it is some sort of idyllic country town facing a horde of Muslims bringing violence and other crimes. It’s more like the Siege of the Vanilla Slice than the Siege of Vienna but residents seem to be taking it very seriously indeed.

One resident complains of what he calls “premature Muslimism”, another of “certain ethnic denominations and the violence they bring”.

Still another claims she “won’t be walking the streets after 7pm”.

And, yes, she has bought deadlocks for her house. Phew

Well, we hate to deal in ugly stereotypes — we’ll leave that to some of the residents of Camden — but it seems that the good folk of Camden have some social problems of their own.

We compared crime statistics for lovely, rural Camden with the City of Canterbury (home to the “dirty looking town of Lakemba” and high numbers of Muslims) and we’re sorry to report that Camden beats Canterbury when it comes to particular offences. Notably breaching apprehended violence orders (usually meant to stop wife beating), domestic violence, theft, sexual assault, indecent assault, dealing in amphetamines and ecstasy, trespass, break and enter, shoplifting, harassment, blackmail and extortion, threatening behaviour, private nuisance, weapons offences, offensive language, offensive conduct, alcohol offences, dangerous driving, driving with unroadworthy cars, arson and, of course, offences related to the production and/or consumption of illegal pornography.

Here’s the complete comparison [pdf] based on statistics from the NSW government.

Now, let’s face it, the sorts of Muslims who are likely to move their families to the country in order for their children to attend an Islamic school are, it must be said, unlikely to be the same sort of people who would be engaging in sexual assault, ecstasy dealing, arson and the production of pornography. So when Hayley, a Camden Advertiser reader, says that, “this Islamic school will change the town forever”, she’s probably right.