Situation much better for Indian students in Australia: Envoy

Updated on: Tuesday, January 18, 2011

With things turning out to be a "lot calmer" in recent months for Indian students in Australia, Australian High Commissioner to India Peter N. Varghese said that the safety of Indian students there is an issue that is "behind us".

Speaking to media persons in an interview here, Varghese said the Australian government had taken a series of measures which had led to "things being a lot calmer than they were 12 months ago". "Look, I think that the issue of safety of Indian students is behind us really. We have taken a series of measures at federal government level, state government level and in relation to our police forces".

"All of those measures, which range from law enforcement to registration of educational institutions and to changes in our migration policy - separating out education and migration. I think all of those have helped us to manage this issue and I think that things are a lot calmer now than they were 12 months ago," the envoy said.

Over the past two years there had been a string of attacks on Indian students in Australia, causing an uproar in India. Nitin Garg, an Indian student, was fatally stabbed in Melbourne in a racist attack that took place in January last year.

Varghese said that External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, who is leaving for Australia today for a two-day framework dialogue meeting, will be briefed on the issue of safety measures for Indian students in Australia.

"I think there is a recognition by the Indian government that we have taken the matter seriously enough and taken action on it. We would be happy to give Mr. Krishna an update on how things are and a full briefing on the measures that are taken," he said.

"We do regular surveys of attitudes of international students and the most recent surveys have shown that the Indian students in Australia continue to be very positive about their experience in Australia," Varghese asserted. Since a majority of the student community in Australia - which is around 300,000 - is from Punjab, the Australian government sees Punjab as an important place.

Figures reveal that student migration from India to Australia has dropped by as much as 80 percent in recent months.

Situation much better for Indian students in Australia: Envoy

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