Oz minister assures Indian students safety

Facing the prospect of slump in migration of Indians, who significantly contribute to the economy, Australia on Monday sought to reaffirm safety and security to all immigrants and international students there.

Facing the prospect of slump in migration of Indians, who significantly contribute to the economy, Australia on Monday sought to reaffirm safety and security to all immigrants and international students there.

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Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Evans met Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and assured their commitment to provide safe and secure environment for the migrants and foreign students.

"I am a migrant to Australia. The country has a strong history of migration. Indians are settling there since in 1860. We want to reassure that we are committed to their safety," Evans told reporters after the meeting.

He sought to downplay reports that the attacks on Indian students were racist in nature.

"A number of terrible attacks on Indian students have occurred in Australia. It is not acceptable. A lot of these are criminal activities. Students suffered from these attacks as they did not know where to move and where not to," he said.

Ravi said that Australia has taken a number of steps to ensure safety of Indians and that they have assured protection to the students.