Australia Faces A Large Dilemma

For Australia, immigration of people from overseas into the country is an important matter. Because of the country's high dependence on immigration for economic growth, any change in the numbers will likely affect the country. Thus, the government is urged by many sectors to ensure the welfare and safety of incoming people, whether they are permanent immigrants or visitors.

However, as it turns out, this one is actually harder than expected. As it is, there are many things that needs to be considered when protecting the welfare of immigrants. And with the sheer number of immigrants in the country, the work gets even harder. To make things worse, there are lots of incidents that continuously hamper effective measures.

Several such incidents concerns the many Indian students that are currently enrolled in the country's schools. It should be noted that Indians are the single largest groups of foreign students in the country. And government officials are estimating that they are likely to grow in the next few years.

However, as it turns out, Indians have become targets for various attacks made by unscrupulous individuals. In 2009 alone, several students were attacked by unlawful elements in Melbourne. This had spark numerous protests coming from the foreign student community and action from the government.

But sadly, this is not yet the end of it. This year, several other incidents have occurred that have affected the relations between Australia and India. One of the most notable of these was the spate of emails circulating that many Indian students found offensive. The said email contains a picture of a man being electrocuted in a train, with a caption saying that it is the best solution to the Indian student problem.

What makes the matter even worse is the source of the email. According to authorities, the emails have been traced to a police department in the state of Victoria. Many students immediately protested against the incident after it had became wide spread. Indian officials have also asked the Australian government to conduct an inquiry on the incident and make sure that the culprits are held responsible.

As for the Australian government's part, they said that they have already conducted the necessary proceedings to put a stop on the incident. They have also said that they are now coming up with stricter measures to prevent something like this from happening again. However, they also noted that this will surely affect the relation between the two countries.