Oz Taking Extra Efforts to Check Racist Attacks on India Students: Envoy to India

Australian High Commissioner to India Peter Varghese has assured that his government was making extra efforts to put check on the racist attacks on Indian students, said media reports.

“We are seeing a reduction in the numbers. I think that reflects the extra efforts we are putting into law enforcement, into policing, tougher sentencing we are imposing and in fact we are prosecuting many more of the perpetrators. So, I hope that this trend continues,” Varghese was quoted as saying on the sidelines of a function in New Delhi.

“It’s now quite clear from the prosecutions and the arrests that have taken place that only a small proportion of these attacks can be attributed to a racist motive. When that happens we condemn it and our courts have dealt with the perpetrators very seriously,” he was quoted as saying.

“But we have taken many steps with the central and state government level in Australia to ensure that we properly manage this issue,” he was quoted as saying.

The envoy also said that chief of all the state governments as well as the central government lately agreed on a set of measures for overseas students, reports said.

The measures range from better briefings, better welfare and support services and providing students with avenues for complaints so that any act of violence cannot go unnoticed.

Varghese spoke about establishing a 24-hour resource centre for all overseas students in Australia, said reports.

(Based on internet reports)