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The woman, working as a reporter with ABC TV, was threatened during the making of the program 'Four Corners' and was attacked over the weekend.
In an article on its website, ABC said the reporter went to two different migration agents posing as a customer wanting to pass an English Language Test without having the skills and told them that she was willing to buy a fake work certificate.
She was able to do both if she paid between USD 3,000 and USD 5,000.
The attack assumes significance in the wake of a series of racially-motivated attacks on Indian students in Australian cities.
The report said it was not clear whether the migration agents or the colleges identified in the 'Four Corners' program were behind either the threats or the attack.
"The program, to be aired tonight (local time), will reveal several cases where international students, especially those from India, have lost thousands of dollars," the article said.
ABC quoted Pushpinder Kaur, mother of Prabmeet Singh who spent over USD 40,000 on a flying course, as saying that that the family was now broke and her son still has no pilot's licence.
"It is a fraud. We were shown so many rosy pictures about the school and it is not what it is really, it was just a scam. I think the Government should be more alert in these type of matters because it is the career of the children which is at stake," she said.
Many other Indian students have told the TV channel that the aviation college Aerospace Aviation has failed to deliver its promised 200 hours of flying time over 52 weeks.
However, Aerospace Aviation's spokeswoman Sue Davis defended the training and questioned the level of commitment and dedication among the particular students.
Karl Konrad, an education and migration agent based in Sydney, said he has been aware of a black market in dodgy documents for years.
"I had many students come to my offices and say, 'oh I can buy letters for USD 3,000 at particular restaurants'," he said.
"They didn't name the restaurants, but I was getting many of these type of stories. [So] we sent that information to the Immigration Department and they in turn thanked us for the information and said they would pass it on to Trades Recognition Australia. Nothing ever became of that," he said.
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This is not a racist country (Australia). There are some racists, of course, like anywhere, but they are a very, very small minority.Most here don't hold their views.And Indians - just like people of any other nationality who come here to live and embrace their new lives - are NOT marked out. They are welcomed. There have been some opportunistic, random attacks ... and the few in Sydney have been by gangs of another migrant ethnic group, as has also been the case in Melbourne in some situations.It's not politically correct to mention that in Australia, though, which now (and quite rightly) goes out of its way not to offend any group on the basis of race, religion.That, sadly, has led to hysterical, distorted reporting of the whole thing in India.It's actually saddening to think that one of the most welcoming countries in the world is viewed in this way and it's a gross misrepresentation.And in this latest case, the attacker was a man of Indian origin.
The ABC report highlighted a complex issue that the Australian government needs to sort out now.1. Young Indians are using a sham education industry as a backdoor to permanent residency. The motivation for the vast majority of them is not to learn.2. Unscrupulous Australians and Indians are settng up scam operations to fleece these young Indians (yes, many Indians are behind these operations). They are doing so through through painting a false picture about what awaits them in Australia.3. This has turned in to a very big business that will shut down if the Australian government chose to properly regulate, potentially damaging the economy.One question I woud like to ask is how would Indians feel if a large number of people from overseas with a very different culture flooded in to India under false pretences and started making demands?
Brian,India had been flooded with Moghuls, Britishers, Portgese, Franchs and so many other criminals. They were all different cultures. India was only country which gave place to Jews and Jorasthrian a place to stay and place to worship as they wished. India was not established criminals from Europe.
Well I'm sure the first one to disagree with you would be the aboriginees or the indegenous australians. I wonder who has flooded whose land.
Good question Brian. India hosts over 25 million refugees from across the sub-continent including the exiled government of tibet and his holiness dalai lama. we have over 1 million illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and Srilanka and an unaccounted number from Afganistan. We are among the largest international donors and also in terms of UN peace keeping missions overseas. We have scams in India and big ones too but not to a scale where the entire scam is co-sponsored by the government and its agencies. Four corners showed Avaiation training run by Sue Davis. She wasnt Indian by any standards.
Indian students are fools for going to Australia to study.
Nowhere in the article does it say that the attackers were of Indian origin or that the scamsters were Indians. This is a prime example of half a(essess)ed journalism from a supposedly elite newspaper of India. Disgraceful.
Disgraceful reporting. Why are the Indian media suppressing the fact that the attackers and cheats involved are Indians? There is a saying about people living in glass houses...
Some Advani bhai likes are blaming Australians as usual, but they must understand that this article is suggesting something else.
Why are some of you blaming the Aussies? Please read the whole story-it is mostly Indians who are exploiting Indian students.
Is it not too much? About 35-40 students attacked and as many killed brutally, still many are waiting for flying to Australia, as per a news paper report. Maximum students attacked were from Andhra. Nobody has heard Rajasekhara Reddy talk about this. What a shameless set of people we have? What the government at Delhi is doing? Has anybody from the External Affairs enquired about the basic cause? Even in small countries people are united in raising voice against this type of atrocities. Even bringing the dead bodies of those attacked is an impossible thing for the government as the Air India is under heavy loss and in the death bed. At least some who are united should raise voice against this. When Biharis attacked in Assam and Maharashtra there were people to shed crocodile tears for them and conduct state bundhs. Come on, act you leaders. The colleges and other institutions who recruit and send students to these countries without proper verification also should be punished.
This is bad. Investigative Reporters being bashed is a direct attack on the freedom of the press. When will the Aussie learn to abide by the rules of the press?
I can see many like Advani who woeship land as mother and ditch it for sake of money, in Canada, Uk, USa and OZ.The bank officers in India make the account statement for 20-30000 and the agents fabricate all the forged documents to obtain visa.In USA every alternate illigal immigrant is from Gujarath, they sell meet, beaf etc. for money.Likewise in Australia the Indian are going to any extent for the sake of money.The media shall probe the nexus between bank officers, agents and companies isssuing visa.
Organised crimes and may include human smuggling are perhaps perfect words.It is believed that many of the so called students do not take admission abroad to study, but to work full time at rotten places. Some of these children are seen working in hotels and restaurants owned by Indians in England.Some of these students become the target of human smugglers whom they pay handsome amounts to be smuggled to Canada and elsewhere.INDIAN EXPRESS should do some research in this field to explore and reveal the foul elements.
The attacker was an Indian, the victim was an Indian and the people who ran the immigtation scam exploiting overseas students were Indians so you can't blame Aussies for everything.
The idea behind many of these "student" related scams is to earn money. Many students do not appear in schools instead they are seen working more than full time at hotels, restaurants,cleaning, distributing newspapers etc. Some of these students borrow huge sums of money in India and with that they buy their air tickets etc. these children are the target of human smugglers who promise them a (illegal) passage to Canada for a handsome sum of cash.Our own Indians are misusing these so called students from our country.
The truth is now coming out. Exploitation of Indian students in Australia is being carried out largely by Indians. Hole-in-the wall colleges are owned by Indians who use commission agents in India to entrap Indian students through totally false promises. It is the Indian store owners, resturant owners and labour contractors who exploit poor Indian students at $4 an hour. Now, the colleges owners have organized themselves in to a criminal gang. What a tragedy!
Sir, many such schools and collages are owned and run by mafia and Australian thugs. I an in Australia for the last 40 years and have across such places. Even the prices are fixed by Anglo-Greek mafia. Indians must look to better collages in Europe and US, there is far too much fraud in Australia.
It is a known fact that most of Indians who came 20 years ago have now Colleges and Restaurents etc. They get the free work from students and also take money for issuing them certificates. Its a vicious circle and Indians are the ones who are exploiting Indian students the most.
Several of these so-called "colleges" in Melbourne are owned and operated by organized crime families of Indian origin. The ABC reporter was really brave to have taken the courageous step to expose this racket.
Very interesting. I read the papers in Melbourne and the comments are that the people who assaulted the journalist were rogue Indians who run immigration scams and give out fake work experience documents. I read the comments here and it appears that most Indians think they were Australian. Can't blame you cause the way the Indian press reports on everything is to sensationalise it. Newspapers, please stop this unprofessional reporting and people who leave comments here, please stop, think, comprehend and then respond. This attack is by Indians on an Indian who dared to expose the immigration scams used by Indians in Australia. This is not an article on Australians beating up Indians.
Racial or otherwise, attacks on Indians are quite disturbing. Perhaps, the responses by the Indian as well as the Australian authorities concerned are inadequate. One important lesson to India is: become self dependent in most matters. The country must try to provide high quality education in the country itself. Also generating employment to the educated should be a priority. Mr. Bill Gates has remarked that India needs to invest more on R
This journalist should be complimented for the brave work done by her. a)She has exposed - Corruption in Australia, because they think themselves belonging to civilised world, b)How desperate are Indians to go abroad, no matter they do not speak local language, buy fake certificates by paying thousand of Dollars. Would they have done so if the life in India was a little better? Late Nehru said - Man power is our strength - time has proved it wrong, it is our biggest problem.
This attack presumably has nothing to do with Race. This was with a criminal intent. Aussie govt is desperately trying to shift the blame on to rogue education providers for the present day situation they have landed themselves in. Education Australia has been promoted by the govt and the licenses have been issued by the govt or the govt agencies. a person cannot just go and start a roof top shop. now, with the recession, young white aussies are going broke. they need to find jobs and the supermarket chains are one of the largest employers of young adults and this is dominated by Indians and Chinese. The govt cannot kick the students out so create an environment where they will quit on thier own. thats what is happening here. as far as rogue colleges are concerned, the process of strating a college in Australia is a cumbersome and expensive process. Its not easy. so dont bite into the " rogue college" theory. thats not the whole story. Its part of the hype to deflect attention.