Roundtable proposed as India calls Australia racist

Just days after education minister Julia Gillard announced a roundtable with international students to discuss their concerns about welfare, safety and accommodation, 18 Indian students were arrested on Monday morning for “breaching the peace” following a mass protest in the heart of Melbourne. isiting Australia. “The outcome of this roundtable will inform discussions with state and territory education ministers at the inaugural meeting of the Ministerial Council on Tertiary Education later this year,” Gillard said. While welcoming the announcement, Barrow said the consultation would need to include “students from different sectors and ethnic groups, as each will have different issues”. “Also, to make sure this doesn’t just end up being a tokenistic measure, students need to know their testimony won’t be used against them by unconscionable employers and landlords. Without this protection, fear will stop students speaking up. “We already know there are issues. The problem is we are not hearing from international students because they fear the consequences, particularly being deported.” Last month the Greens’ called for a senate inquiry into the treatment of international students in Australia. The NUS had called for such an inquiry the month before. Barrow said the NUS would wait to see if the roundtable was legitimate and gave results before again pushing for an inquiry. Gillard said most international students were satisfied with their study in Australia. “However, reports of any violence or discrimination directed at international students can do much damage to our international reputation as a welcoming country,” she said. This can already be seen on the back of the increasing number of attacks on Indian students in Melbourne. Australian universities, as on March 2009, had 75,000 Indian students enrolled for various courses, according to Australian Education International statistics. India, along with China, account for more than 40 per cent of the total of international students in higher education. However this could be at risk, with the recent attacks gaining much media attention in India. The Times of India reported that “violent attacks on Indians have been growing over the last few years and has raised serious concerns for aspiring students who wish to study in Australia”. Another paper, the Hindustan Times said attacks on Indian students go largely unreported. It went on to say that “given there have been consistent media reports of Indians facing attack in Melbourne, it has taken some time for the Australian government to respond”. A call for expressions of interest from those wanting to participate in the round table will be made soon. Gillard said participants would be selected on the basis of their ability to represent the views of international students and would come from across all education and training sectors and all states and territories.