International students in Australia

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“Fair go” for international students:an appeal from the Indian Australian community.

Hello

A large number of leaders from Indian Australian community met in the Harris Park community centre earlier this month. Several international students were there too.

UIA, GOPIO, FAIA, Australian Punjabi Heritage Association, AISA, Australian Punjabi Business Association, Punjabi Council, Malayali Association, Tamil Manram, TAA, Hindi Samaaj, Deepavali Committee of NSW and others were represented. Many other associations have extended their support too.

Harry Singh, Raj Datta, Moninder Singh, Rohitas Batta, Padmanabham Karamil, Navjot Singh, Ajay Sharma, Ranjit Khera, Prabjot Sandhu, John Niven, Amarinder Bajwa, Lucky Singh, Harry Walia, Vish Vishwanathan and many more were there. I joined it too. Several student leaders like Raveena Garg, Apoorv Chaturvedi and Syed Sakib were there to share their situation.

From this meeting, a group called “Friends of International students” comprising of 10 people was constituted. Its membership is listed in the website which is enclosed.

http://fairgo4internationalstudents.org/

There is a concern among people in regards to the potential for unfair outcomes for the former international students, if the Visa capping bill 2010 becomes an Act. This Bill, if it becomes an Act, will give powers to the Immigration minister to apply “cap and terminate” provisions of this Act retrospectively.

As another post in my Blog [ http://tinyurl.com/2ftcspt ] explains, this Bill has some features which may have very serious implications for former international students who have completed their training/education in Australia, have applied for the PR and are on bridging Visa currently. No body has any argument about the prospective application of the powers of the Act [if this Bill is passed] but people are very concerned about the potential use of the “capping and cull” powers retrospectively.

BTW, others also have concerns in these matters. Some links are enclosed.

http://tinyurl.com/2exu5cd
http://tinyurl.com/265hxht

My appeal to you is;

-to visit the Website http://fairgo4internationalstudents.org/

-to consider supporting the petition in support of these ex-students[who have been here for years, finished their training, have applied for PR and are on bridging Visa.

-and to forward the links to your friends and contacts for their support.

Regards

Yadu Singh/Sydney/26th June, 2010

http://www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

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Migration amendment [Visa capping Bill] 2010:what is it all about?

Australian Migration Amendment [Visa Capping Bill] 2010 has been through the Lower House of Australian Parliament last month. It is currently with a committee of the Senate. People have been asked to send their submissions. I understand that people can still send their submissions.

Visa Capping Bill has caused severe anxiety among the International students as it has certain features which may have some serious impact on their chances to be Permanent Residents in Australia. Their anxieties are outlined very clearly in their comments to the National Interest programme of ABC Radio National, anchored by Peter Mares who interviewed Minister Evans. Mark Webster who is an expert in this area and is the chair of Migration Institute of Australia, NSW chapter and Peter Mares had also written summaries on this matter.

Here are the links of this Radio National programme and other relevant write ups.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/nationalinterest/stories/2010/2918752.htm

http://inside.org.au/capping-and-culling-the-migration-queue/

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/death-knell-for-overseas-students/story-e6frg6nf-1225878156303?from=public_rss

http://www.acacia-au.com/general_skilled_migration_changes_8_feb_2010.php

http://www.acacia-au.com/GSM_changes_impact_on_international_students.php

http://www.acacia-au.com/frequently_asked_migration_questions_student_forum.php

http://www.acacia-au.com/Minister_Seeks_Power_to_Terminate_Visa_Applications.php

http://www.acacia-au.com/comments_on_chris_evans_immigration_capping_bill.php

I enclose the link from Dept of Immigration website on this matter too.

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/migration-amendment.htm

As we recall, Minister Evans has been saying that Australia wants to have a demand-driven Immigration programme, not a supply driven programme. He has mentioned that we have an oversupply of cooks and hair-dressers. Instead of them, we need doctors, nurses, engineers etc.

To achieve this result, he has done several things. One was to bring out this new Skilled Occupations List [SOL]. Others included putting a temporary freeze on granting Visa from the beginning of May 2010.

Visa Capping Bill is the latest instrument which Minister wants to have it passed by the Parliament. This will give him the power to manage the Skills categories and the types of migrants which are needed in Australia. With this power, Minister can outline “characteristics” of the applicants and apply a cap on the number of Visa given to that category  in a particular year. After that number has reached, all remaining applications are “terminated” as if they have never been made. “Termination” is different from “rejection” because “terminated” applicants will not have a right to challenge that “termination”. The application fees for such applications will be returned but it will not include fees one has paid for migration advice, medicals and other associated expenses.

About 61000 places are available for the General Skilled Migration [GSM] places for the next year. There are already 147000 applicants for GSM in the queue right now and more than 25% of them [38990] are from International students who have completed their studies in Australia. 17594 are cooks and hair-dressers alone. Quite a lot are on bridging Visa, awaiting the final decisions from the Immigration dept. Let me give an example to clarify things here. If Minister Evans picks the characteristic “Cooks” and applies a “Cap” of a certain number [likely to be a small number], then all remaining applicants from “Cooks” category will be “terminated” even though these applicants have been on the waiting list for decisions for years. These “terminated” applicants will have 28 days to leave Australia. This is where the anxiety is coming from.

If you see the comments in the Radio National programme and the submissions to the Senate committee, people have been in Australia for many years. They have sacrificed a lot. They had to arrange huge amounts of finances by taking loans, selling/mortgaging their houses/farms before they came to Australia on a student Visa. Australia allowed them to come and study here. Australian International education was marketed [marketed by those who were involved in marketing on behalf of International education in Australia] with the lure of PR visa because certain courses/trades were in the preferred list which would give them the almost certain chance of getting a PR Visa after completion of their diploma/course/training. Australia was a preferred place for international students because of this link. It is true that Australian Gov itself did not declare this link in a legal sense but this link was clearly used in the marketing. There was a practical link of getting PR after completion of certain courses because those courses were in the preferred list. By the way, it is not a serious argument today that previous Gov was wrong in linking education with immigration. This argument is not going to help the issue at hand.  There is no denying that mismanagement has taken place. Many are now of the opinion that education and immigration should have never been linked.

New SOL has removed many of the low value courses which is a good thing. This will take care of future students. Visa capping bill gives powers to the minister to manage the waiting list of those whose trades are not in demand anymore and are not in the new SOL but whose applications are pending for PR at this point of time. Apparently, there is a massive backlog of >2 years for general skills migration [GSM] applications. Backlog is one thing but Minister also wants to make sure that people with low-value trades are not getting PR and distorting the overall mix of skills which Australia gets from GSM.

Australia has the sovereign power to decide who it will accept as immigrants and what skills it needs. Nobody can have an issue with this inalienable power.

As is true with every power, the powers of this nature should be used judiciously [and Minister admits it himself], keeping in mind the “human consequences” of those who will be affected. Powers of this nature should be used keeping in mind that “these” people came here because Australia allowed them through a smart [or was it?] marketing and they have invested huge amount of money and time in Australia over 4-5 years. We have to be mindful that many of the students and their families back in whichever country they came from will have very difficult times if their “investment” of money and time fails and they are forced to leave Australia in this manner.

If you read the comments as mentioned above, many Ex students are already in the relevant jobs after completing their training. There is no reason why they can’t get the PR. They will suffer too if the power from this Bill is used as they will be in that “characteristic” or “cap & cull” category.

Yes, people can go for PR via Employer Nomination Scheme [ENS] or get PR via State or regional sponsorship scheme  if they can get such sponsorships [SOL does not matter for such sponsorships] but it is not going to be available for most.

The discussion on a topic like this will always bring the question of whether the changes should be prospectively applied or whether it is fair to apply them retrospectively.

Minister Evans has sought this power but has not declared which trades he is definitely going to target. Cooks and hair-dressers have however been mentioned repeatedly. Which “class or classes” will be subjected is not clear but this can be applied to any “class” as there is nothing in the Bill which excludes any “class” on which this “cap and cull” power can not be used. Protection visa is the only exception.

Minister Evans has his justifications for this power but I am concerned about the “human” consequences and with the plight of students. I am visualising very serious difficulties for affected international students and their families with possible impact on their physical and mental health.

When new SOL was declared, I thought the transitional measures were going to be useful for those who were impacted. With Visa capping Bill, it appears that the relief offered by transitional measures may be taken away for at least some trades like cooks and hair-dressers.

What is your view?

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/June 11, 2010

http://www.twitter.com/dryadusingh

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International students in Australia:Yet one more scam!

http://www.theage.com.au/national/crime-link-to-student-scam-20091030-hpwm.html

The whole International education in Australia is open to scams,  rorts and criminal activities. Serious actions are needed to clean this sector.

Yadu Singh/Sydney/01-11-09

 

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Top 100 Universities in the world: 2 from Australia but none from India!

http://www.ulinks.com/topuniversities.htm

It is about time that India invests more money in the education sector. Some of the Indian Universities are capable of being in the top 100 list. Reservation on the basis of caste is something which is not going to help. A teacher who gets his/her position from non-merit grounds can not be as good as the one who is there due to academic merits.

Food for thoughts for Indian minister for education, Mr Kapil Sibal!

Yadu Singh/Sydney/10-10-09

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Right demands for the right reasons:I agree!

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26111338-12332,00.html

“The Greens have called for an education commission to oversee immigration requirements, quality, monitoring and compliance, a parliamentary secretary for overseas students and an ombudsman. National Union of Students president David Barrow urged universities and colleges to follow the Australian National University and guarantee a bed to first-year students.” HES, The Australian Newspaper, dated 24th Sept, 2009.

We have been saying similar things for a while. Please look at the relevant items in my BLOG.

Will Hon Ms Julia Gillard look into it?

 I hope so.

Dr Yadu Singh/Sydney/24th Sept, 2009

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Indian students in Australia:Fix the ills of international education!

There have been several reports about the assaults of the Indian students in Australia. These attacks have been called “Racist attacks” by the Indian media in India and some people in Australia. I do not agree with the “racist tag” for these attacks. I, like others, however condemn them and have asked the Police authorities to take effective actions to stop these attacks. 

The students’ issues are multi-dimentional and the stategy to tackle them has, by logic, to be multi-dimentional.

Following write-up will describe what should be done.
FIX THE ILLS OF THE INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA
 
31/7/09
 
You would have seen what was in the INSIGHT [SBS] and FOUR CORNERS [ABC] about International education recently. You would have also seen what was published on this matter in SMH and The Australian recently. Whatever is there is not pretty in regards to the International education. Rorts and scams are aplenty. Exploitation of students is the rule rather than the exception. Exploitation is happening in multiple fronts, starting from the agents in overseas countries and going to the schools and employments in Australia. There is no guarantee which certificate is genuine and which is worthless. International education schools have been called “Visa factories”. It has attracted headings of the nature ” A racket no one dares name”. It is really shocking and bringing a very bad name to Australia. Anybody who has a conscience must be getting agitated. I certainly am.
 
 It is about the time that we say “Enough is enough”. Not only the Aust Gov and its regulatory bodies must act but we the Indian community must act too.  If nobody acts, we risk the good name of this country itself getting a serious beating. It is not at a stage yet , I hope, that it can not be saved if the Gov agencies act decisively. We chose to live in Australia because we love to live here. If we love this country, then we ought to do everything which will not allow anyone to tarnish the good name of “Brand Australia”. We can never forget that this is the country where we have enjoyed and are enjoying our success and it is the country which our children will enjoy in future.
 
For our children’s sake, we do not want to have a situation that our education is looked down upon as useless when our children go for jobs all over the world. Some of our children would go and work all over the world as the the world has become a global village. Australia is a great country and we must not allow anyone to make it otherwise.
 
I have been in discussions with a large number of people from our background in recent days. I have also been talking with non-Indian Australians on these matters. It was gratifying to note that there was a general consensus about what needs to done in regards to International education.
 
In summary, it is about us including Aust Gov agencies, doing everything to maintain the good name of Australia and its brand recognition. It is also about maintaining the integrity of the Australian education and Immigration systems.
 
We will be able to do so if;
1.Australian Gov and its regulatory agencies do their jobs in exposing, investigating and prosecuting those who are involved in rorts and scams

2.Australian media exposes the rorters and scamers vigorously irrespective of who is involved

3.International students are guaranteed the education which they were promised when they signed the contract after understanding our system from authentic sources, before getting the Visa at the Australian embassies/High Commissions which is further followed by a verifiable and mandatory orientation here at the schools about Australian systems, ways, rules, regulations, what is On and what is not On

4.International students are placed in other relevant schools or refunded their money ASAP if they are unable to receive the quality education

5.Australian Gov and its regulatory agencies work ruthlessly and systematically in ensuring a good quality education for international students

6.Australian Gov works closely with Aust Universities and Overseas Governments in regulating the conducts of the education agents, operating on behalf of the educational providers

7.Australian Gov and its regulatory agencies consider the issues of infra-structure and capacity before giving permission for schools to enrol students and then monitor these issues randomly and frequently

8.International education and permanent residence visa are de-linked in an effective way by reversing some ill-advised changes brought in by Howard Gov around 2005

9.We have an international students’ ombudsman system for these students to go to if they have a problem with the schooling or employment as the legal system is very expensive in Australia.

10.Visa conditions are effectively policed as many work for far more than what is allowed

11.Australian police does effective policing in regards to crimes against international students by following the culprits/criminals vigorously and by being proactive rather than reactive

12.we, the Indian community approach and encourage international students to mix and mingle with the general “established” Indian community and by being the mentors to them in the new environment

13.we, as the community, take the initiative to establish an Indian international students’ benevolent fund to provide assistance to these students in certain well-defined emergency situations. The contributors for such funds must include students themselves, schools/universities, Australian Gov, Indian Gov and Indian community, knowing that there are no free lunches

There is some significant justification for a separate ministry at the federal/state levels for International education when this is generating more than $15 Billions which is number 3 earner for our economy. It is worth thinking about.

Assistance by the education providers in locating the appropriate accommodation for the initial 6 months and some subsidy for the transport would be other issues which should be considered.

We also need to make it mandatory that every student is maintaining the valid and current medical cover during his/her stay as the medical treatment is very expensive in Australia.
 
As far as we the Indian Australians are concerned, we must resolve to not socialise with the rorters and scamers from our own community. It should not be difficult as they are tarnishing the good name of our community and we do not want that to happen.
 
We also need to show leadership and tell our Indian media off for calling every assault on Indian students as racist attacks because 1. it is not a true and fair commentary and 2. it is potentially harmful to us. Australia has been projected as a racist country by the Indian media which is completely baseless. Indian media’s coverage has been hysterical, unprofessional and anything but objective. We, the Indian community do not believe that we are living in a racist country.
 
We need to project ourselves as a fair and caring society which we are but we also need to project us as a system which will not allow rorts or scams to succeed irrespective of who the scamers or rorters are. Jail is the right place if the rorter is an Australian resident/citizen and deportation is the fate if that person is a student.
 
Can we do it? Yes, we can. We do not have any other choice because anything else is going to harm the image of the very country which we love. I would even go to the extent of saying that anything else would be “Un-Australian”.
 
I hope that more would be ready and willing to join me in this……. A time has come when we join together and name this racket for what it is. After all, $15 billion dollars [out of which $2-3 Billion is from Indian students] is lot less than the long term harm to Australia and Australians if we do not do something effective to root out the rorts and bring in the fairness in the system for all the parties.
 
Regards
 
Dr Yadu Singh
Cardiologist
Baulkham Hills, NSW