Melbourne Apple Store kicks out African-Australian teens, accused of racism

A group of African-Australian teenagers was ejected this week from a Melbourne Apple store, trigerring accusations of racial profiling.

The incident occurred on Tuesday when six Maribyrnong College pupils visited their local Apple store at Highpoint Shopping Centre in north-eastern Melbourne.

In a video posted on social media, a staff member for the Apple store can be heard telling the students: "These guys [the security guards] are just a bit worried about your presence in our store. They're just worried you might steal something."

When the stunned students demand a reason for the ejection, the staffer says: "End of discussion, I need to ask you to leave the store."

After the video garnered mass support for the boys and raised accusations of racism, the group returned to the shop the next day with their school principal and received an apology from the store manager.

"She apologised to us and told us that we are welcome here anytime," said one of the students, Mabior Ater, according to Fairfax Media. "It feels like we have justice now."

An Apple Australia spokesperson said that "inclusion and diversity" are among the vendor's "core values".

"We've looked into the details of the situation and we apologise to the customers involved. We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure all our customers are treated the way they should be," said the spokesperson.

"We believe in equality for everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. That applies throughout our company, around the world with no exceptions."

The latest episode follows a September incident in which a man with Down Syndrome was refused entry at a JB Hi-Fi store in Brisbane.