Australia Foresees Exodus of Fiji Indians
July 19, 2000
Australia foresees an increase in the number of ethnic Indians fleeing Fiji and migrating down under in the wake of recent developments in the South Pacific nation.
Australian Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Phillip Ruddock informed on Tuesday that there was no programme or policy for according special treatment to incoming Fiji-Indians, who will be considered under the prevailing migration laws, which were ‘absolutely non-discriminatory’.
He, however, said that the conditions in Fiji were not that the ethnic Indians could be considered as refugees. “There are many countries that do not have democratically elected governments. The very fact that a coup occurred wouldn’t give rise to an international response for resettlement,”
he said adding that a similar exodus was witnessed during the previous coup.
Ruddock has been at the forefront of taking pre-emptive action against Australia becoming a destination for illegal immigration. Australia, he said, was perhaps the only country that had one of the most effective laws to deal with unauthorised arrivals. And the country has managed to do it by speedy identification of such people and ensuring quickest deportation of such people. The migration laws were amended last October to make them more effective.
Australia witnessed 3,941 people arriving illegally by boats during the last financial year (March 1999-April 2000), an increase of 328 per cent over the previous year. As many as 2,106 people were refused entry at Australia’s airports in 1998-99 as the country began to get tough on unwelcome guests.
“We want people entering Australia to do so lawfully,” the minister said highlighting that his country welcomed people who had the qualifications to settle in Australia. He did not expect any ill-feelings towards Indian professionals seeking to migrate saying that Australia already had a significant Indian community.-Press Trust of India, July 19, 2000
