Australia to open help line for Indian victims of racist attacks

September 15th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Three Indians were brutally attacked in a suburb of this Australian city by a group of youths who allegedly made racist remarks, a media report said Tuesday. Omkar Singh, a relative of the victims, told IBN news channel Tuesday that the attack took place when his relatives were playing pool in Epping.

September 15th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Three Indians were brutally assaulted in a suburb in this Australian city by a group of youths who allegedly made racist remarks. Omkar Singh, a relative of the victims, told IBN news channel Tuesday that the attack took place when his relatives were playing pool in Epping.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Australian government would ensure that student victims of racist attacks either get a seat in a different college or are refunded the entire college fee, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard said here Monday. Gillard, who is on a five-day visit to India, was interacting with students of the Lady Shri Ram College.

August 30th, 2009 MELBOURNE - The racist violence targeting Indian students in Australia is going to have a big impact on its economy, with enrolment of Indians at Victoria's universities expected to plunge by up to 50 per cent in 2010. The shortfall, comprising existing students who plan to abandon their courses here and hundreds more who intended to enroll, but are now seeking positions at universities in other countries, will cost the Victorian economy tens of millions of dollars.

June 14th, 2009 MELBOURNE - With attacks on Indian students continuing in Australia, Race Discrimination Commissioner Tom Calma believes there is a case to give a racist tag to them. Calma admitted that racism existed in Australia, but said the whole country should not be blamed for it.

June 4th, 2009 CANBERRA - China has joined India in asking Australia to provide improved protection for foreign students after a series of violent racist assaults on Indian students Down Under. "There are over 130,000 Chinese students in Australia.

June 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - On social networking sites, Indian students across the globe have been expressing their anger and condemnation of the racist attacks on Indians studying in Australia. Students overseas have launched an online protest in the wake of the attacks through social networking sites Facebook and Orkut.

June 2nd, 2009 TORONTO - The recent attacks on Indian students have been overblown as racist, says the papa of the Indian student community in Australia. Eighty-two-year-old Gurcharn Sidhu, who in 1951 was one of independent India's first students to come here under the Colombo Plan, says these attacks are not "overly blatant acts of racism" by Australians.

June 2nd, 2009 SYDNEY - Indian nationals living in Australia have expressed deep concern over the manner in which the Indian media has covered the recent Australian assaults on students and many consider this reporting "irresponsible" This comes as the Indian media is doing exclusive coverage of the Australian attacks and has been extensively rebuking the country for being a racist. "There is a problem with Indian media and Indian leadership - they can't assess a situation in a rational way.

June 1st, 2009 LONDON - Indian students at Oxford University Monday joined in the growing protests over racist attacks on their counterparts in Australia, saying they are baffled by the failure of Australian authorities to take stern measures. Indian students at the University of Oxford strongly deplore the violent attacks on students in Australia.

June 1st, 2009 SYDNEY - Indian students in Australia should have their own ombudsman to whom they can go in times of trouble and the universities that admit them should arrange their accommodation for the first six months, says a committee formed after a spate of attacks on Indian students here and in Melbourne. Asserting that "Australia is not a racist country", committee coordinator Yadu Singh held: "Most of the attacks are what we call `opportunistic attacks' and due to the impression of the criminal elements about our students being the easy target for various reasons".

May 31st, 2009 MELBOURNE - Hundreds of Indian students in Australia have embarked on a peace rally aimed at curbing racist violence. The march comes in response to a recent spate of violent attacks on Indian students.

May 31st, 2009 MELBOURNE - Amid racial attacks on Indian students in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia's first Asian-born cabinet minister believes racism in the country is confined to a minority of people with extreme views. Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong has previously recounted her "pretty difficult" childhood experiencing racist abuse while growing up in Adelaide.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI/MELBOURNE - The Indian external affairs ministry Friday called Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy and conveyed its concerns over the allegedly racist attacks on Indian students in Melbourne, the second largest city of Australia. N. Ravi, secretary (east) in the ministry, met the Australian envoy and sought assurance about the safety of Indian students in Australia.

May 28th, 2009 MELBOURNE - In the wake of the attacks on Indian students in the country, an Australian police officer is to travel to India to brief prospective students on avoiding street violence in Australia, media reports said. Police community liaison officer Senior Constable Victor Robb said that his advice would mainly cover "safety strategy tips", Radio Australia reported Thursday.