Is this the kind of behavior that's meant to be encouraged? Just go gang up on the newbies?
Hell of a lot of fun it is to be a newbie in this game...
As long as there are stronger empires and weaker empires there will be those that try to dominate and conquer others. If you treat the newbies around you better than that, you are to be commended for your noble alien rights record.
The seemingly weaker empires are not always as weak as the stronger empire would imagine, and vice versa. Smaller empires can always employ diplomacy, though it seems that many players overlook this very valuable part of the game. If I've got a problem with a particular empire, I try to reach out to that empire's neighbors for intel, learn who his allies and enemies are and exploit that if I can.
Finally, by virtue of being located on the outer areas, the newbies have the advantage of totally empty space on their border. They can send out arc escape pods, so that even if they lose their homeworld, they can still survive (and maybe one day seek revenge on their conqueror?)
