In recent months there has been much news about a spate of brutal attacks on Indian overseas students in Australia. These have especially occurred in Melbourne, although there have been cases in other cities. Many of the attacks have been vicious. One student lost an eye, another was stabbed with a screwdriver. Location of attacks has been mostly on evening trains and in station surounds, often as students are returning home from their campus.
The Indian Students’ Federation in Australia have been very active in organising protests about lack of action by the Australian authorities to better protect the students. They have been supported by the National Union of Students. The bashings have become a very lively issue in the Indian media and the Indian government has made direct protests to the Australian government. There has been dismay amongst the Indian students and many others about the slow and half-hearted response of the police and and governments.
The Victorian Police Commissioner, Simon Overland, at first responded to the attacks by claming that there was nothing to suggest that Indians were being singled out or targeted for the crimes. Unfortunately there were many such attacks on people of all backgrounds, he said. It was just that the Indian student victims were getting all the publicity. The attacks were ‘opportunist’ robbery, not racist assault. The only factor that could make an Indian student a little more of a target was that they tended to carry ‘items of attraction’, such as ipods, laptops and mobile phones. His key point was that the attacks on the Indian students were not out of proportion to the students’ share of the general population.
Only as the attacks worsened and the Indian students came out to stage demonstrations in Melbourne and Sydney did the Police Commissioner admit that the attacks were racially motivated. Victorian Premier John Brumby has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and taken a very positive initiative to lead a Harmony Walk on Sunday 12 July at 1pm, from the Carlton Gardens to Federation Square.
It should also be noted that Universities Australia (the umbrella body of the senior leaderships in all Australian universities) promptly has taken a range of initiatives to help tackle the problem. These include convening a meeting in Canberra of all Deputy Vice-Chancellors (International) to initiate action, providing detailed submissions to two official Task Forces and Inquiries, discussing the management of these issues with their counterparts in India and China and releasing a detailed set of proposals on how to improve safety practices on and off campus. It is important that at the campus level itself every effort is made to actively follow through on such proposals for the protection and enhancement of overseas student safety and welfare.
At the national level, it was really only when the Indian government protested strongly and the matter got extensive coverage in the Indian media that the Australian government started to take notice. Calls in the Indian media for families to start bringing their young people home from Australia – and perhaps re-locate them in other countries where they would be better protected – helped focus Australian attention on the problem!
The whole thing has become a challenge to Australia’s foreign relations. Education exports (selling of school and tertiary places at very high prices to overseas students) is now the third largest Australian export earner after minerals and agricultural products. It is no sideline business. Earnings to Australia from education exports now total about $16 billion each year. In Victoria it provides more than $3 billion. Australian foreign policy simply cannot go on in such a cynical and self-serving way. It cannot say to Asian countries and peoples send us your young people for secondary and tertiary education, fund a large proportion of our total education bill, but don’t expect us to offer them protection when they come under physical attack.
The attacks on the Indian students has further opened up a range of other fundamental issues about Australian tertiary education. As Australian governments – Labor and Liberal – have increasingly shifted the cost of tertiary education away from government budgets and on to earnings from overseas student fees, all sorts of negative outcomes have emerged.
There is the emergence of some very questionable private providers, the selling of fake ‘Australian tertiary qualifications’ in some overseas markets, the rise of conmen and fraudsters in and around the tertiary institutions collecting phoney ‘fees’ and charges from the overseas students, that go straight into their own crooked pockets. The Federal government has yet to publicly acknowledge the existence of such malpractices. The Department of Immigration may have conducted some investigations on its own immediate matters (visas, residency, and so on) but not on the eradication of the fraudulent practices themselves. The federal and state governments have a clear duty to clean up these criminal elements. To let it all go on means that the quality and integrity of the overseas student programme will just slip away.
Above all, it is this drop in the standard of many first degree and postgraduate courses that makes up the most serious outcome of the current entrepreneurial culture in tertiary education. The cause of this quality loss probably has much to do with declining employment conditions for university teachers. There is less permanent academic employment, heavier workloads and very stretched budgets. There has been a general unpreparedness for the huge influx of overseas students into the total campus population. This overall entrepreneurial culture of the modern Australian university seems to have weakened its teaching quality and perhaps even its research. The milk from the education export cow is being taken on a grand scale, but the milk has turned sour.
The attacks on the Indian students have slowed a bit over recent weeks. Let’s hope governments and police don’t drop their guard, until one day the attacks break out even more violently than before. All the issues of the oveaseas student programme (’education exports’) need to be reviewed comprehensively – looking after the safety of the 400,000 overseas student residents in Australia, better meeting their housing needs and providing adequate services, reducing the ridiculously high fees for overseas students, reviewing the accreditation processes for all ‘educational’ institutions and facing up to the declining quality in many of the academic courses and research programmes offered. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has undertaken to have a review done. It must be comprehensive and show commitment to promoting a fair and genuine relationship, based on mutual benefit, with the neighbouring countries and peoples. The review needs to get moving without delay.
Richard Wong has been involved in the Chinese Professional & Business Association (CPBA) of Victoria for many years. He is currently an Executive Member of CPBA. He is also a Council Member of the Federation of Chinese Associations in Victoria and a Trustee of The Sir Edward Dunlop International Students Emergency Fund (SEDISEF).
16 responses so far ↓
1 NoName // Jul 13, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Just recalled the time around 1996 when I first visited AU as an oversea student in Queenland state. The city of Brisbane was peaceful and nice.
At that time, Paulin Hunson started her politic campaign on discrimination, which caused a problem to asian people there! Some of Asian students walking around the city of Brisbane and got shout badly from some local people. Some got throwing egg (yes, that happened to me & my friend). But most stories we witnessed were only shouting and minor, but no insulting.
It’s sad to heard that the matter got worse when the time pass by…
2 R. N. England // Jul 13, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I think this is an excellent contribution, specially the last half. The prime motive of the institutions that sell education to overseas students, and the associated government economic policy is the bottom line of a ledger. They pay lip service to the principles of education while ripping off the students.
The other side of the coin is also an economic one. Most of the students go through the motions of education, but their real motive is economic migration– to ultimately get permanent residency and employment in Australia, where the pay and conditions are better than at home. It is unjust to blame individuals for striving to better their lot in life, but fair to say that governments in the thrall of economics, and institutions run by accountants, have lost sight of the traditions of education. Let the money-making take its rightful place in an all-embracing, people-serving world culture, but not at the head of it.
3 Sidh S // Jul 13, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Thanks for the important and timely piece Richard. Here’s an excellent, complementary article by Kate Shaw from The Age newspaper discussing spatial and policy issues:
“Cultural change impossible if cultures are divided”
in
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/cultural-change-impossible-if-cultures-are-divided-20090708-ddcv.html
4 dulcify // Jul 14, 2009 at 12:22 am
Are these attacks racially motivated or largely opportunistic crimes?
How many of these attacks are carried out by members of the migrant communities in Australia?
How many Indian students come to Australia to escape the violent and sexually humiliating hazing that is rampant in the Indian education system? I hope that highlighting of violence by the Indian students leads to a safer community for everyone in Australia.
5 ricky ward // Jul 14, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I am looking forward to the questions raised above by “dulcify”.
Correct me if I am wrong, but reports I saw were of attacks on public transport.
In the name of efficiency, dcades ago, suburban rail services in Australia were stripped of station staff and guards on trains, to be replaced by hideously bright lighting at night , spy cameras and Red panic buttons on platforms.
Despite the squalidness of India I suspect that the Indian Railways still have adequate staff and provide a higher level of security for passengers.
Australia’s problems extend beyond the realm of greed in education.
6 Nirmal Ghosh // Jul 14, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Dulcify – I’m somewhat mystified by your comments.
From what I know, and what I have heard from Indian students and Australian friends alike, there is no doubt that the attacks are racial. That they are opportunistic is a given, but the fact is they are based on race. For the police to claim as they did at first, that the crimes were opportunistic, was disingenuous and helped enrage the targeted student community.
Having said that, I am told attacks take place on people from other migrant communities as well, but their governments have not stepped in to protest. There is also undoubtedly inter-racial harassment and violence, but without citing data your question ”How many of these attacks are carried out by members of the migrant communities in Australia?” can best be described as speculative and leading. Your last sentence ”I hope that highlighting of violence by the Indian students leads to a safer community for everyone in Australia” oddly seems to seek to transfer the blame to the victims.
Then you also say ”How many Indian students come to Australia to escape the violent and sexually humiliating hazing that is rampant in the Indian education system?” I suggest the answer is none or perhaps at most a tiny handful. It is hugely expensive to study in Australia, far too expensive to justify merely to escape a couple of weeks of inconvenient hazing. Besides, while there have been serious hazing incidents in India, it is a rather large country and to suggest that the entire education system may be losing students because of it is totally unfounded.
For those who are wondering why I have pitched in, it is because my daughter studies in Melbourne. She has not so far been the focus of any attacks, ironically probably because she doesn’t look ”typically Indian” (I get a lot of that myself, and am no longer surprised at small-minded stereotyping; what is an Indian supposed to look like??). But she has seen plenty of incidents of clearly racial harassment of Indians and others occurring right in front of her.
I think Richard Wong’s post is an excellent, well reasoned one.
7 Stephen // Jul 14, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Just a narrow point, having previously been an overseas student in Australia. Regarding R.N. England’s statement that for “most of the [overseas] students… their real motive is economic migration.” At least in my experience, this was not the case. And if Richard Wong’s figure of 400,000 overseas students is correct, then “most” would be over 200,000 overseas students a year seeking permanent residency.
While studying in Australia, I was friends with fellow overseas students from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and North America, and acquainted with an even larger number. Most were from South Asia and East Asia. I only knew of one person (my flatmate from Japan) who sought permanent residency. However, as he was from Japan, I don’t think you can easily argue that better “pay and conditions” in Australia were his primary motive. Most of my Asian friends and colleagues were planning on returning home (to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, China/Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan) with a relatively valuable Australia degree which would help them get quite decent employment and pay back home.
8 dulcify // Jul 14, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Your last sentence ”I hope that highlighting of violence by the Indian students leads to a safer community for everyone in Australia” oddly seems to seek to transfer the blame to the victims.
Your analysis of my comment is breathtaking.
I applaud the Indian students who have raised and or reported to police acts of violence whatever the motivation of the attackers. I hardly see how wishing for a safer community for all is transferring blame to victims.
Your use of the phrase “inconvenient hazing” is laughable, like me describing attacks on Indian students as inconvenient violence.
For anyone interested google “ragging” as hazing is known in India.
Harsh Agarwal, co-founder of the Coalition to Uproot Ragging says
“The biggest hurdle is no one believes ragging is a social evil, when an entire society believes in this, how is enforcement of the law possible?
That seems to sum up your attitude Nirmal.
9 Nirmal Ghosh // Jul 15, 2009 at 12:23 am
Hi, Dulcify,
Thanks for the clarifications. You don’t have to tell me about hazing; I went to a college in India. My intention was not in the least to condone hazing (who on Earth does but the hazers??) and indeed the word ”inconvenient” may have been a poor choice.
I was trying to make two points – that not everyone has the luxury of paying upwards of A$ 20,000 per annum to get away from the hazing menace. And, more to the point, I have personally yet to come across cases of Indian students leaving India just to get away from hazing. Hazing may well be part of a cocktail of factors, but I would suggest that it is a small part; others are far more powerful, and they are the traditional ones – a good degree, a stimulating academic environment, exposure to other cultures and so forth. Australia in this regard has a very positive image, that’s why so many Indian (and other Asian) students go there. One hopes it does not suffer, but for it not to suffer the roots of the problem need to be addressed.
As I said, I have yet to come across the kinds of cases you suggest. I haven’t done any research on this. Maybe you have come across dozens, in which case I would take your point.
In any case, this is straying from the central issue – your question whether the attacks have been racist or opportunistic. I take it since you did not take issue with what I posted on that subject, we are in agreement that opportunism is a given, and that these attacks are indeed racist?
10 R. N. England // Jul 15, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Stephen (7), your sample seems larger than the one I have to go by, and you may be right. If so, I’m glad to be corrected.
11 michael // Jul 18, 2009 at 9:18 pm
There’s no doubt that the attacks are racial in character. It’s quite obvious that state governments & their police forces in Australia need to pull their socks up & deal with the issue. The denial tactics of Victoria Police, in particular, need to be looked at.
Despite the fact that almost everyone in Australia has migrant, including Anglo, roots, there is quite a lot of racism & xenophobia. It comes to the forefront usually in times of economic uncertainty, but it’s there, simmering away all the time – which is, in some ways, rather odd, considering Australia’s reputation for high education standards & love of fair-play (’a fair go’).
Education can contribute to the needed changes. Emotionally-engaging stories, plays, and other activities with themes encompassing issues such as fear of the unknown, isolation, self-awareness, scape-goating & cultures, should be a regular part of schooling, from early Primary, through to the end of Secondary education. Such activities must be followed up by debriefing, discussion and active workshop activities (e.g. drama & role-play) if there is to be real change. To merely discuss the issues from a ‘right-vs-wrong’ perspective is too shallow. Teacher-training, including in-service, is necessary to equip the teachers, many of whom hold anti-social attitudes, especially towards ‘asians,’ or are in need of consciousness-raising. Such measures need to be incorporated into education on a permanent basis – ’special projects,’ with impressive budgets, which are so attractive to politicians & bureaucrats, have a shelf-life.
I don’t want to paint too bleak a picture – there’s ample evidence that many members of the community, including teachers, are committed to getting problems of this sort out into the open, & dealing with them. But, for example, the way that Pauline Hanson & her party were dealt with (almost Thai-style in its Machiavellian processes), is not much help in the long-term. What’s needed is real, deep-down change &, with a population of only 20million, it’s much more possible than in other countries with similar problems.
R.N.England, your comments on ‘economic migration’ seem rather out-of-date and inaccurate. (In the 80s, it’s true that there were quite a few commercial language-training institutions with scams to enable foreign students to book into courses & then work full-time, illegally. But that has been cleaned up. Universities were not a part of this.) Please supply traceable information on the “sample (you) have to go by.” I must say that I can’t see anything wrong with talented young people from other countries coming to Australia, training, & staying. I know a whole lot of such people, including a cancer-specialist, a G.P., 2 accountants, some IT specialists, 2 dry-cleaners, a whole lot of restauranteurs, etc., who did just that. Good on ‘em, I say. They’re making the place more liveable.
12 nganadeeleg // Jul 19, 2009 at 4:38 pm
A very interesting topic – I think until some arrests are made it is too early to state whether these attacks are racist, opportunistic, organanised or possibly an element of all three.
I will make the following comments that no doubt will offend many, but I am trying to give some perspective to the problem, not trying to justify racism, and hopefully help facilitate a solution and some understanding of the issue:
1. It can often not safe for anyone to travel late at night on certain public transport routes in Australia, as that is the time when the most violent, opportunistic, gang type characters come out to play – this seems a mild version of what has been going on in other larger western cities for many years – perhaps something can be leared from those cities as to how to deal with such problems?
2. I have detected a mild resentment amongst some young Aussies towards Indian students because they seem to be taking many of the casual jobs that students and young people generally traditionally have had over the years – I am not sure whether this is real or imagined, but I have often heard it mentioned that many of the trolley pushing, taxi, KFC type jobs are going to ‘the indians’ – presumably this is just a numbers thing, more supply, less demand, or they are just seen as better workers, and not some sort of ‘undercutting’ by unscrupulous emplyers?
3.Indian students by their work/study habits are often in a situation of being on public transport in those ‘unsafe’ times, and perhaps the perpetrators of the crimes see them as easy targets .
4. Those same young Aussies mentioned above (many of whom themselves have ethnic backgrounds) have also commented to me that they dont like the ‘attitudes’ of some Indians who they say roam the city streets in their own mini ‘gangs’ – I expect they are not ‘gangs’ at all just ‘like sticking with like’, but there is a ‘gang’ perception, that has probably not helped those lone students travelling late at night.
5. I agree something needs to be done about the situation as no one (Indian student or otherwise) should be subject to such attacks, however I still see it more a policing/security/social issue, than a purely racial one.
6. I have no comment on the Educational aspects of the post, other than to say I dont like the way the ‘education industry’ has become a big business, as maybe I’m an old fashioned dreamer, but I still see education and health as ‘public goods’.
I fully expect to be blasted for this comment, but I’m just trying to give the feeling I get ‘from the street’, so to speak.
13 R. N. England // Jul 22, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Those contributors who doubt that there is a link between economic migration and study in Australia could have a look at this very recent report by a group of demographers:
http://www.population.org.au/files/BirrellHealyKinnaird1_2009.pdf
There has evidently been a dramatic increase in the number of young Indians coming to Australia to learn to cook curries.
14 Joy // Jul 23, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Very interesting thread. I studied in Sydney for a number of years. Most people at uni are quite nice to us overseas students, and local people (Anglo-aussies) are generally friendly and helpful. However, once( early in the morning) i saw “Asians go home!” pieces of paper pasted on the walls of many uni buildings (they were removed soon afterwards of course, perhaps by uni authorities).
I also encountered a few cases of vicious verbal abuse (which is explicitly racist) by local people. Once in a park, a male stranger, all of a sudden shouted at me and said something like “Asians go home” (but much ruder and more age in tone). Similar incident took place in a bus once.
But I’m not saying that Australia is more racist than other countries. I’m sure foreigners in Thailand encoutered similar or even worse form of discrimination/abuse. I simply hope that racist acts(whenever and wherever they take place, and no matter how subtle they are) are always condemned.
15 Nirmal Ghosh // Aug 10, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Costly lessons for Indians in Australia
By Amy Kazmin in New Delhi
Published: June 23 2009 16:48 | Last updated: June 23 2009 16:48
Like most young Indians going overseas, Pooja Thakur was excited about new opportunities when she went to Australia last year for graduate studies.
Although the A$30,000 ($23,700, €17,000, £14,500) fee seemed hefty, Ms Thakur, 22, whose father is a schoolmaster, was assured by education agents in Ahmedabad, her home town, that she could earn enough to cover it and A$900 in monthly living expenses through part-time work. “I wanted to learn more and see the world,” she recalls.
Yet almost 18 months into her sojourn, Ms Thakur is filled with regret. Her first semester was spent in a disappointing accountancy course pushed hard by an agent but filled only with other students from India and China.
She has since switched to a mainstream MBA programme but money remains a constant worry. Unable to find a job for six months, she now spends five hours a day selling electricity plans door-to-door, earning just enough for living expenses.
The Rs1.5m ($30,000, €22,000, £18,900) bank loan her family took out to finance her studies weighs heavily. “I realise I made a huge mistake,” Ms Thakur says. “I should have studied in universities in India.”
Disillusionment is not unique among Australia’s Indian students, whose frustration spilled into public view during street protests triggered by attacks on their compatriots.
Shortage of places
Puneet Singh, a 25-year-old pursuing a master’s degree in accounting, opted for Australia’s Latrobe University, because as an “average student” working part-time at a restaurant, he felt he had “no chance” of attending a top-ranked university at home Competition for India’s elite universities is fierce, with many people spending huge sums on coaching for the arduous entry exams. “There are so many good students, and they work so hard,” Mr Singh said. “It’s not always possible for others to compete with them.”
Addressing India’s shortage of higher education opportunities is one of the biggest priorities of India’s new government. Under 10 per cent of college-age students are enrolled in higher education.
The National Knowledge Commission wants the gross enrolment ratio in higher education raised to 15 per cent through opening 1,500 new universities in the next few years. More than 20m Indians reach college age each year.
To Mr Singh, who drives a taxi three nights a week to finance his Australian studies, a second-tier Indian university was simply not an appealing option. “I don’t think companies will take you if you come out from [one of] them,” he said.
Although the protests focused on safety and policing, Gautum Gupta of the Federation of Indian Students in Australia says they reflected deep disgruntlement among the students, many of whom feel they came to Australia under false pretences and are now stuck in uninviting jobs.
“They are feeling helpless, stuck in a system where they can’t move forward or backward,” Mr Gupta says. “If they are unhappy and want to go back, it’s not an option. They have already invested all the money and they can’t go back without losing a lot.”
India has an acute shortage of high-quality university places, creating intense competition for admission, and Indian elites have long sent their children for higher studies abroad, mainly to the US and UK.
Australia has also received a huge influx of Indian students, many from middle-class, small-town families who take large loans to finance their progeny’s overseas venture. From 13,000 in 2003, Australia’s Indian student population has soared to 96,000, close to the number of Indian students in the US.
In their quest for upward mobility, young Indians are encouraged by agents who receive commissions from Australian education institutions for each student they recruit. Commissions range from 10 per cent of the tuition fee for top-ranked public universities to 25 per cent for private universities and up to 45 per cent from the lowest-level vocational schools.
Less than a third of Indian students in Australia are enrolled in traditional degree programmes. The vast majority are in vocational institutions, sometimes just two or three rooms in an office block, obtaining skills such as commercial cookery, hairdressing and automotive repair: agents tout these programmes as advantageous towards obtaining permanent residency.
Australian authorities have tried to promote ethical conduct among education agents, backing creation of the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India, whose members promise “to provide accurate and realistic counselling” on cost, courses and work prospects.
Gulshan Kumar, the association’s president, says numerous unaffiliated agents are pushing low-quality education institutions and painting unrealistically sunny pictures of Australia, especially its job market. Many such agents also supplement their commissions by taking huge fees from the students, adding to their debt burden.
“They are not purely dealing with education – they are doing it as a business. I would even term it as human smuggling,” Mr Kumar says.
Australian authorities should crack down on the proliferation of “shoddy” education companies, Mr Kumar believes
In a tacit recognition of a system seemingly out of control, Julia Gillard, Australia’s minister for education, said last week her government would review urgently the legal framework governing its A$14bn foreign education business.
Such measures, however, will offer little consolation to the current crop of students, many of whom are living in cheap housing in Melbourne’s crime-ridden western suburbs, and working part-time in jobs such as night shifts at petrol pumps that leave them vulnerable to violent crime.
“They are basically importing cheap labour, for cooking, cleaning and driving cabs, in the guise of education,” says Mr Gupta. “It’s a masterstroke.”
Additional reporting by Peter Smith in Sydney
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
16 Mindi // Oct 15, 2009 at 11:41 pm
I think the life of an international student in Australia is harder than it looks. I did investigation study on international student for my ESL, and I found lots of things which are hard to find on internet. I went to 2 Universities to meet the international students and found lot of difficulties they are facing that I can-not tell you. They are doing maximum work and getting minimum paid. Other hand international student’s population in Australia is increasing readily every year. After 2006 the cases of attacks on international students are raises up to 65%. Now every day in Australia 1 or 2 international students become the target.
Australian Education minister said the safety of international students is in our top 3 priorities (the Advertiser)
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