The Hindu : Front Page : New South Wales to meet Indian leaders

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New South Wales to meet Indian leaders

Melbourne: Amid growing attacks on Indian students in Australia, the New South Wales government has announced that it would meet leaders from the community on Friday to discuss the issue of safety.

NSW Premier Nathan Rees said that he recognised the growing concern within the community over the attacks and wanted to tackle the issue before any violent incident took place in his State.

“I have lots of interaction with the Indian community in NSW and in and around Sydney. I have regular meetings and contacts with Indian community leaders,” he was quoted as saying by the media here.

“They know, were there to be an issue, they have a direct line to my office. They haven’t called. This is a pre-emptive measure. I don’t want what has occurred in Victoria to happen in Sydney,” he said.

His remarks follow the spate of attacks on Indian students in the Victorian state’s capital of Melbourne, where a massive rally was organised by the community on Sunday last against the growing assault cases.

Mr. Rees noted that international education was his State’s third biggest export, pumping 5.3 million dollars into the economy each year.

The 20,000 Indian students studying in NSW should be respected by the community and treated like guests, he said.

“Overseas students, whether they’re Indian, Chinese or otherwise, I welcome in NSW, I welcome in our streets and I welcome in my home,” the Premier said.

Friday’s meeting will involve representatives from the Indian student community, the education sector and Community Relations Commission chair Stepan Kerkyasharian.

Police Minister Tony Kelly, Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Citizenship Minister Virginia Judge will also attend.

India’s consul general and a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade representative have also been invited.

Mr. Rees said although the issue of racially motivated attacks was a matter of national importance, he would be making sure that NSW continued to be a safe place for students.

Chinese students attacked

China has joined India in raising concerns over a spate of attacks on foreign students in Australia, asking Canberra to provide better protection.

In the wake of a recent surge in violence on Indian students here, Chinese embassy counsellor Liu Jin said his government was actively intervening to ensure the safety of their nationals.

“There are over 1,30,000 Chinese students in Australia. They have on the whole had good study and living environment, but attacks on Chinese students also occurred in recent years,” Mr. Liu told the Sydney Morning Herald.

While he declined to list the number of attacks and where they had taken place, his statement raised worries in the education sector over the future of the 15.5 billion Australian dollars overseas student industry.

Chinese students are one of the largest communities studying in Australia. — PTI

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