A group of six African-born boys have thanked the public for helping them to raise awareness about racism, after they filmed a video of an Apple employee kicking them out of a Melbourne store.

The Year 10 students – who each moved to Australia after being born in Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Eritrea and Egypt – started filming when an Apple worker told them to leave the store in Highpoint Shopping Centre, Maribyrnong, about 4.30pm Tuesday.

The video was uploaded to Facebook, titled ‘Simply Racism’, and has been viewed more than 60,000 times.

“These guys are just a bit worried about your presence in our store, they’re just a bit worried you might steal something,” a man in an Apple shirt says in the video.

“Wow, why would we steal something?” the boys asked.

“End of discussion, I need to ask you to leave our store,” the employee replied.

The students told 9NEWS they believe they were racially targeted. (9NEWS)

The boys told 9NEWS they believe they were racially targeted.

“Because we were a group of black males – teenagers – and teenagers do a lot of stupid stuff but you still can’t give black people that stereotype,” Abdulahi Haji Ali said.

“Once we heard that we are all pretty shocked… I didn’t believe what I heard.”

His friend Mabior Ater said being asked to leave violated their rights.

“We have the right to go in and look around like anyone else,” he said.

“I’d just like to thank everybody who supported us and raised awareness for racial profiling.”

The boys and their school principal. (9NEWS)

Apple refused to provide a comment on camera, but told 9NEWS the boys were asked to leave because they were rowdy.

An Apple spokesperson also directed 9NEWS to a quote from CEO Tim Cook.

“We want every person who joins our team, every customer visiting our stores or calling for support to feel welcome,” it reads.

“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 boys and their Maribyrnong College principal were invited back to the store on Wednesday, and the senior manager apologised. 

© ninemsn 2015