Indian students stay away from Australia

Updated on: Thursday, December 31, 2009

Australia: Australia's lucrative overseas-student education industry has been crippled by a spate of racially motivated assaults on Indian students.

According to data released by the Tourism Forecasting Committee, Indian student enrollment is likely to decline by 21 per cent compared with a 35 per cent rise in 2009. There is also expected to be a AUD 69.7 million loss in profits in 2010. The data highlighted that the full blown racial attacks on Indian students was without doubt the cause of the decline.

In Victoria state alone, 1,447 people of Indian origin were afflicted in the year ending June 30, 2008, an increase from 1,082 the previous year. To tackle the problem, the Australian government had established a special task force unit and formulated new laws to stem racial crimes. But the measures have failed to stop Indian students, who claim to be vulnerable targets to racial prejudice, from fleeing the country.

Indian students stay away from Australia

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