Oz to tighten screws on unscrupulous migration agents

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Jul 28 (PTI) Australia Tuesday vowed to crack
down on unscrupulous migration and education agents after a TV
channel expose claimed that many foreign students, including
Indians, were being "duped" of thousands of dollars by them.

The 'Four Corners' programme of ABC News reported last
night that hundreds of private colleges in Australia were
offering courses such as hairdressing and cooking, luring
Indian students with false promises of permanent residency.

The channel, which conducted a sting operation, also
claimed that a number of migration agents were offering "fake"
work experience certificates to students.

An Indian journalist working undercover with ABC to
expose the alleged scams was threatened and punched by an
unidentified man over the weekend, an incident which has
sparked an outrage in India.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the scams of ripping
off foreign students would be looked into by immigration and
education authorities and dealt with "no tolerance".

"On the migration front, when we were in Opposition we
did express significant concerns about the regulation of
migration agents, and as a consequence we've recently seen a
migration regulatory authority come into existence to regulate
that industry better," Smith said.

"But any of these abuses, of course, we won't tolerate
and don't tolerate. And the cracking down, so far as the
migration agents' regulatory arrangements are concerned, will
assist in that process," he said. PTI NC