Australian aborigines demand UN refugee status

October 14th, 2009 MELBOURNE - A majority of Australians taking part in a Lowy Institute's annual survey are wary about China acquiring superpower status, but much happier with the United States being a superpower under Barack Obama. The Lowy Institute's annual survey of the nation's views on a range of foreign policy issues has revealed that Australians' support for the US has rebounded to record highs with Obama's election.

October 4th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Life in this Australian city does not live up to expectations, say overseas female students in a survey that revealed "international students have been seriously affected by the current housing situation in Melbourne". In a report by the Victorian Immigrant and Refugee Women's Coalition that involved interviews with 17 women, all but one respondent said Melbourne was a "tolerant and multicultural place".

September 28th, 2009 BRISBANE - A new Australian survey has found that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, in Queensland are going blind at a staggering six times the rate of other Australians despite the fact that they are born with better eyesight. The survey, led by the University of Melbourne's Indigenous Eye Health Unit, was conducted from data collected from about 400 Aboriginal across Australia and Torres Strait Islander people in 30 communities.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI/MELBOURNE - Strengthening of student visa checks to stamp out fraud, upgrading interviews and restricting online access to Australia's eVisa system to fewer agents are some of the measures introduced by the Australian government to reinforce the country's standing as a high quality education destination. Submitting fraudulent documents or making fraudulent claims in applications by agents on behalf of their student clients is simply unacceptable.

September 4th, 2009 OTTAWA - The Canadian Government has decided to challenge a decision by the country's Immigration and Refugee Board, which granted refugee status to a white South African because of the colour of his skin. Brandon Huntley, 31, who had been illegally staying in Canada from 2006, argued that his safety would be in danger if he returned to South Africa, The Globe and Mail reports.

September 3rd, 2009 SYDNEY - Indian minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal is in Australia to search for "some foreign coal" so that his country's energy needs are met. Jaiswal, who is India's minister of state for coal, has visited coal mines in New South Wales and Queensland.

September 2nd, 2009 JOHANNESBURG - The African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, has labelled Canada as "racist" for granting refugee status to a man who claimed he was persecuted in South Africa because he is white. Brandon Huntley, a 31-year-old South African who stayed illegally in Canada in 2006, after first arriving on a work permit as a carnival attendant, was awarded refugee status after complaining that he was mugged and stabbed in seven attempted robberies in South Africa.

August 4th, 2009 SYDNEY - Police swooped on a suspected Islamic terrorist cell Tuesday in Melbourne to forestall a possible suicide attack on an Australian Army barracks, authorities said. More than 400 police raided 19 homes and picked up people from the country's 16,000-member Somali refugee community in the biggest anti-terrorism operation in three years.

July 15th, 2009 SYDNEY - Thirty-six international students, including some Indians, have been taken into immigration confinement for allegedly breaching study visa conditions in Australia. Most of the student visa holders being held are from China, but others come from Pakistan and India, The Australian reports.

June 27th, 2009 MELBOURNE - The Australian government is conducting an audit of its rapidly burgeoning vocational sector, one of the biggest education providers for Indian students but which is also widely believed to be misused for gaining permanent residency (PR) status. Policymakers and educationists believe that the over 1,000 vocational institutes in the country, of which 400 alone are in Victoria state, have become moneymaking machines, many of whom compromise on the quality of education by hiring agents who are given hefty commissions.

June 25th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australian Islamic leaders are dismayed at French President Nicolas Sarkozy's criticism of the burqa as a threat to "the equality and dignity of the female," saying his comments do not reflect the reality about the status of women in Islam. The French President's comments were also tainted by hypocrisy, as his own track record on gender issues left a lot to be desired, said Iqbal Patel, president of Australian Federation of Islamic Councils.

June 19th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australia's Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans, today met representatives from the Indian community in Melbourne to listen directly to their views on the racial attacks involving Indian students. The Minister reassured the Indian community that the Australian Government welcomes students from India and values their decision in coming to Australia to further their studies.

June 12th, 2009 PESHAWAR - Pakistan needs a staggering $2.2 billion to rehabilitate the three million refugees who have been uprooted by the military's anti-Taliban operations in the country's restive northwest, Online news agency Friday quoted Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi as saying. Talking to reporters during a visit to the Jalozai refugee camp near this North West Frontier Province (NWFP) capital, he said the US had given $300 million while Turkey had contributed $110 million.

January 30th, 2009 MELBOURNE - India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of Bahamas lost to American Bryan brothers Bob and Mike in the doubles final of the Australian Open here Saturday. Bhupathi and Knowles won the first set but ran out of steam, going down 6-2, 5-7, 0-6 to second seeded Bob and Mike at the Melbourne Park.

January 14th, 2009 MELBOURNE - It is for the second time in a row that no Australian tennis player has been seeded either for the men's or women's singles in a Grand Slam even as Australian Open begins here Monday. Following on from the US Open in New York last September, the 2009 Australian Open in Melbourne has no locals among the 64 top-ranked singles players.