Indian Students Protest "Racist Attacks"

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MELBOURNE 000065 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL IN AS SUBJECT: Indian Students Protest "Racist Attacks" Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Indian international students staged a large protest in Melbourne on May 31-June 1 claiming that they are being disproportionately targeted in a recent spike of robberies and assaults in Victoria and that police are not doing enough to stop the crimes. Police forcibly removed some protesters at the end of the overnight sit-in and arrested one man for assault; there are claims that police used excessive force. Victoria police admit that some crimes have been racially motivated, but insist that many acts were simply "opportunistic" in nature. Providing tertiary education to foreign students is a US $12.4 billion industry in Australia and is the country's third largest export. While overseas student numbers have not yet fallen off, perceptions of Australia as a safe place to send students are critically important to the business of education. End Summary. Overnight Sit-In -------------- ¶2. (U) Approximately 1,400 protesters gathered in Melbourne's central business district on May 31 claiming that a recent spike in violence against Indian students was motivated by racism. Protestors said that Indians are overrepresented as victims of crime in Australia and that police are not doing enough to stop the violence. Protesters carried signs saying "hate racists, not Indians," "students not safe in Australia," and "end racist violence." The protest concluded at approximately 5:00 AM on June 1 after the participants decided to stage an overnight sit-in. Police detained but later released 18 protesters for "breaching the peace," and arrested one man after he allegedly threw missiles and broke several windows at the historic Flinders Street train station. Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland denied that excessive force was used to disperse the protesters despite claims that several of the participants were punched or forcibly removed at the conclusion of the rally. ¶3. (U) The rally was organized by the Federation of Indian Students of Australia. Gautam Gupta, a spokesman for the organization, publicly stated that "we want a multicultural police section and we want crime statistics made public so we know the extent of the problem." Gupta went on to say that the government should run an advertisement campaign highlighting the positive influence international students and migrants have on Australian society. The march started at the Royal Melbourne hospital where a 25-year old Indian student remains in intensive care after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver at a party two weeks ago. In Parliament on June 1, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described these attacks as "senseless acts of violence," and said that he had separately told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on May 29 that the more than 90,0000 Indian students are "welcome guests" in Australia. Police Response -------------- ¶4. (U) During a June 1 press briefing, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland noted a trend of escalating robberies in Melbourne and its suburbs against "soft targets." In 2007-2008, 1,447 people of Indian origin fell victim to crimes such as robberies and assaults, an increase from 1,082 such crimes the previous year. This was compared with 24,260 Caucasian victims and 36,765 victims overall. He described these as opportunistic robberies of people walking alone late at night with visible valuables such as laptops, ipods, or cell phones. While Overland conceded that some of the attacks were racially motivated, he believes that Indian students have been caught up in a broader trend of increasing robberies and violence over the past 18 months. ¶5. (SBU) Victoria Police have increased their presence in Melbourne's western suburbs which are home to many Indian students and Overland claimed that robberies are already falling in these neighborhoods. Police contacts did not rule out racism as a motivation for at least some of the attacks, but they noted that Indian students may be easier targets of opportunity due to outside employment activities. According to these contacts, many Indian students find employment opportunities driving taxis or working in the service industry during late hours. As many of these students use public transportation to return home after work, they may be exposed to criminal activity more than other groups. Comment -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Growing concerns over student safety may take a toll on Australia's important education sector. International education is now Australia's third largest export industry behind coal and iron ore. In 2008, the industry was valued at US $12.4 billion. In MELBOURNE 00000065 002.3 OF 002 Victoria, education "exports" are now the state's largest export industry, well ahead of the tourism and automotive sectors. There were over 159,000 international students enrolled in Victoria in 2008. Although we have not yet seen signs of this important sector falling off, perceptions of Australia as a safe place to send students to study abroad are critically important to the "business of education" here. THURSTON