Confronting the conundrum

MALLI IYER offers an intense overview of the students’ issue in Australia and its repercussions

The media in India and Australia have well and truly flogged the Indian students issue to death since the past 12 months.

The reporting has been partisan and it is not hard to see the political overtones. Australian Federal and State government politicians are happy to admit ‘some’ element of racism. It promises them ‘some’ voting gains at the next election. Racism is almost impossible to prove on the basis of stray incidents in a multicultural and secular society such as Australia. The same political leaders appear to claim that Australia is one of the safest destinations for overseas visitors. The attitude of the Indian government is one of ‘interested indifference’, as they can do little else but keep expressing serious concern about the safety of its citizens. It is fair to point out that Australian government has plenty on its plate already with successive boatloads of asylum seekers and legal or illegal migrant prospects contributing to people and population pressure.

In all the media reports that have appeared so far which allege racism against Indians in Australia, not one of them has analyzed the peculiarities of the situation - namely, Australia has a huge population of people of South Asian origin from Fiji, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, East Africa, Bangladesh - all of whom look nearly the same. However, none of the others appear to have been assaulted or have had crimes perpetrated against them. No matter how clever or discriminating the so-called racists are, they do not have a third eye to single out the Indian students and leave all the others unharmed!

Why are billboards, newspaper advertisements and commercial TV channels in India still screaming at their audiences to study and work in Australia, New Zealand and the UK? Migration agents purporting to be wizards at getting work permits and migrant visas are collecting hefty professional fees from gullible youths, whose parents and guardians seem comfortable about parting with huge sums of money in pursuit of goals for their children’s future.

The ‘noveau riche’ middle class in India has no qualms about throwing a couple of million rupees to get their offspring a few more opportunities to succeed in their endeavours.

So why indeed, have over a 100,000 Indian students chosen Australian educational institutions to become paying scholars attending dubious courses such as hairdressing, wine waiting, chefs and kitchen-related programmes? A majority of these institutions are not directly affiliated to well-known universities like Monash, NSW, Sydney, La Trobe, Charles Stuart or ANU. Some of these students who have enlisted in hairdressing and catering courses have college degrees in Information Technology, Engineering and other disciplines which are far removed from the ones named above. Could it be because the capitation fees and donations sought by colleges affiliated to Indian Universities are such that they choose the more convenient option of spending similar amounts in Australian educational institutions? These students seem hardly keen on pursuing a career either in hairdressing or catering, but they are aware that these qualifications could open up opportunities for permanent residence (PR) in Australia. Recent amendments to Australian immigration rules that permit PRs to migrant prospects with Australian qualifications or employment experience have acted as a lure, even though these rules for prospective migrants have changed several times in recent years.

It is a plain but bitter truth that by granting a student visa, Australian educational institutions have sought to obtain new funding sources for their survival, since Government funding was withdrawn some years ago. Is it any surprise that foreign students are sought after as a major source of revenue by very reputed Australian universities? The international students in all Australian Universities are seen as a lucrative money spinning industry, or else they would not spend huge advertising dollars in the Indian news media to attract students to Australia.

It does not take a genius to discover why there are several new faces at petrol station checkouts, waiters at restaurants, amateurish taxicab drivers and the like, almost all of whom are willing to work graveyard shifts at below minimum wages because they need the cash to spend on their creature comforts. It would seem reasonable from the point of view of small Australian businesses to hire casual or part-time employees who have a good command of the English language and are willing to work for affordable wages. Indian students fill the bill adequately.

Indian students in cities like Sydney and Melbourne are conspicuous because of their loud mobile phone conversations in trains, bus stations and other public places. Ipods with Bollywood music are not out of place and carrying reasonable amount of cash on their persona is a common feature – as they do not yet qualify to obtain credit cards. It is patently obvious to everyone that they could be easy prey to the brash, beer guzzling, outof-work Aussies in public places.

It is probably true when our Indian Foreign Minister says that Australia is in denial of the problem. After all, the stray incidents in Australia are nowhere near the excesses on Indian migrants and workers in the Middle East. Besides, when there is clear culpability on part of all the parties involved in this conundrum, it is grossly unfair to point a finger only at the Australian government. After all, they have an oncoming federal election, global warming effects and reshaping of their policies with South and North East Asia to contend with, whilst not mentioning the global financial meltdown – let’s just say that they have plenty of fish to fry. Should we hold it against them if they are in denial?