I heard the news reports of  ’violence against Indian students’ about six months ago amidst sensationalised headlines. And it was not until I got to Australia that I was able to properly investigate the matter further.

I do not believe Indian students are being systematically targeted and I do not believe Australia is an overtly racist country. The Indian media is fickle and self-proclaimed Indian community leaders in Australia love getting their 15 minutes of fame.

Since I left Australia in 2007 and now coming back in 2010 I have noticed an increase of what appears to be Indian students on the streets.  One of the reasons why is the linking of education with permanent residency. Education should never be linked with immigration.

Lohit Shandilya in his essay ‘Why are Indian students being targeted in Australia‘ makes some interesting points.

1) These so called students are undertaking vocational education as a pretext to gain permanent residency: ”Australia was not a popular destination for Indian students until education here was linked to permanent residency.”

2) Shandilya calls the private colleges that sprung up ‘cattle markets’ with ”a class meant for 100 there are intakes of 500 students.” But what about the living conditions of these students, I have heard anecdotally that a two bedroom apartment housed ten people.

3) His final point is “But I am hopeful things will change, once the immigration slows down.” But we need the immigration to slow down!

In order to gain control of the situation a few things must happen:

1) Separate education from any promise of permanent residency. Why are we giving the right of residence to someone who only comes here to do a cookery or hair dressing course? In The Netherlands, all foreign students are given, once they graduate, a one year residence permit. In the space of 12 months they are meant to find full time work which satisfies certain conditions. If they do not, they must leave the country. This is a far better system that giving someone who may not have a clear commitment to Australia the right of abode. No other country is crazy enough to do this to my knowledge! It is widely known that Indian students are high-risk violators of visas.

2) Review all successful permanent residency visas from 1 January 2006 given to students who came to further their education. Sounds harsh but if my European friends are well educated and find it hard to get into Australia why is is easier for some bloke who just rocks up here to drive a taxi and go to cooking class?

According to some Indian students who came out years ago, they call the current students the ‘crap’. The ones who fail to get employment in India. The good ones stay and end up with lucrative jobs whereas these ones come only to get the right to stay in Australia.

Being called a racist is like being labelled a child killer and most Australians are slow in understanding what is really happening as they are busy defending the image of Australia. This is futile. We must decouple immigration from education and a systematic review of all previous applications to determine if any dodgy characters slipped through the net.

Bruce Baird, former Federal Member for Cook, has been tasked with reviving the Education Services for Overseas Students Act. I am meeting with him tomorrow to discuss his report. His interim report has already been released.