Hyderabad, July 10: A high-level Australian delegation on Thursday assured Indian students and their parents that the Australian government and police had taken strict measures to apprehend the perpetrators of attacks on Indian students there and were working hard to prevent a repeat of such incidents.
The delegation, consisting of high ranking government, police and Australian University officials, is visiting eight Indian cities and addressed the press in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Colin Walters, a senior official in the Australian Department of Education, said, “We don’t believe that a majority of the attacks are racially motivated, though some may be. Instead they are largely crimes of opportunity.” He added that there was zero tolerance for racism and that the perpetrators would be punished.
The government will hold an International Students Roundtable in September to hear students views. Other steps include developing a students strategy to improve international students with pre and post arrival information, facilitate greater interaction between students and local communities through social and sporting events, distribution of third edition of Living and Studying in Australia guide and establishment of two government task forces.
Paul Evans, Assistant Commissioner of Police of Victoria State said that his force had increased surveillance, including installing more CCTVs and increased police patrolling by uniformed and plainclothes officers and started helicopter patrolling. Further a Police Multicultural Liaison Office had increased the interaction between police and students. “There has been a significant reduction in assaults and robberies in the last one month,” he said.
Some of the steps to keep in mind are: dial 0003 to get straight to the police. The bus or train will be stopped at the next station and the police will arrive. The delegation said that students should get to know the neighbourhoods where they stayed and also use ‘common sense’ and avoid certain parts of the city at certain times of the day.
The number of Indian students in Australia has increased tremendously in the last two years. Of the 5 lakh overseas students, one lakh are Indian. There are 46,000 in Victoria alone, where Melbourne, where a majority of attacks were reported from, is situated. Indian students tend to work part time in ‘dangerous’ jobs as taxi drivers, convenience stores, etc. This makes them more vulnerable. “Please do not carry expensive equipment with you,” said Colin Walters.
ACP Evans declined to give statistics on how many people had been apprehended saying that it would affect the trials of these people. He also said that the police did not keep records of the ethnicity or nationality of the victims. “The attackers are very young, typically 14-18 years old and under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The attacks are unrelated, so we can rule out a gang targeting Indians,” he said.
The delegation stressed that Australia was overall a safe country and that a majority of Indian students felt safe. Arun Sharma, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology said that most Indians in Australia – there are 2,50,000 – felt safe and that the universities were working with the police to advice students on where to live and what precautions to take.
The delegation hoped that student inflow into Australian Universities from India would not be affected.
But they are, cry parents
HYDERABAD: Even as the visiting eight-member Australian delegation tried to dispel the fact that attacks against Indian students were not ‘racial’ in nature, parents still feel that they indeed are.
E Venkateswarlu, father of a student who was studying Hotel Management course in Australia, said that his son Vikramsimha Naidu was willing to come back to India because of hatred shown by his classmates who included Australians. “My son is a topper in his class, and this made him a target of Australian students’ hatred. My son wants to come back out of fear,” he noted.
In response, Colin Walters asked for details to address the problem. Another parent innocently asked for sending Indian police to protect NRI students in Australia, Higher Education and NRI Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu while sympathising with him, asserted that it was the responsibility of the governments concerned to provide necessary security to all those who live in that particular country.
The number of cases booked against the offenders, steps taken to check racial attacks, steps to reassure parents and students concerned, reasons for attacks on Indian students were among the questions/doubts raised before the delegation. In response, the visiting members assured them stating that the Australian government would provide full protection to Indian students.
—Agencies–