Another recent event took place regarding illegal migrants in Australia. This time it was the immigration detention centre at Darwin. Here, many Indonesians are facing charges of smuggling people led to a riot. Many of the protestors jumped on to the roof of buildings at the centre which were demountable. The event took place in the morning.

In the process, it has been reported by the officials that property which catered to about ninety seven Indonesian men has been destroyed. Representatives from the Consulate of Indonesia in Darwin along with the negotiators had been trying to concert the men who were protesting urging them to leave the roof.

These men did not permit the security personnel to come climb on the roof as well. Apart from climbing on roofs, the men also brandished certain poles as well as setting ablaze a huge pile of trash and mattresses.

The main reason behind their protest has been legal treatment. As per the charges and allegations made on these people, those detained could be subjected to imprisonment for as along as twenty years. This is because there are specific jail terms which are mandatory for those found to be involved in human trafficking.

However, most of the alleged people are poor fishermen who have been subject to fraudulent people and criminal smugglers. These smugglers continue to reside in Indonesia where there are no laws pertaining to smuggling. At the same time, it has been said by the authorities in Canberra that cannot reveal any information regarding the incident.

With immigration cap being set in by the UK government for immigrants coming from the non-EU nations, another turn of events has taken place now. This time, it’s the cut on Aussies walking into Britain. This has come about after a release which stated new figures projecting an increase in the total immigration to UK.

Prior to elections, a promise was made by the Conservative Party a few months back there would be a cap on the total immigration and would be brought down to less than 100,000 in a single year. This would be done by lowering the total number of economic immigrants from nations such as Australia and so on which are not a part of the European Union.

However, the recent figures projected that the net immigration saw a rise when compared to last year. There was an increase from 163,000 to 196,000 which clearly shows that there would soon be a steep cut in immigration.

Already, the government of David Cameron has implemented an interim cut of 5% on the total number of skilled migrants who are being granted a visa. These include those people who are not the citizens of the European Union nations. At the same time, the employers are being consulted with regarding how to go about implementing long term cuts which would be executed next year.

The Australian firms which are functioning in London intend to join the British companies to participate in the process of consultation which would take place in the coming weeks. They believe that the British government should not make it tough for the foreign employees to come to Britain or to hire foreign skilled migrants.

The main reason behind this sudden rise in the number of immigrants has been the constant influx of foreign migrants to study where as less Britons were leaving the nation. This number dropped to 36,000 last year from 90,000 in 2008. So, the only way to bring about a balance is to cut down on net immigration. At the same time, being a member of the EU means that the EU citizens have to be permitted free access into the nation at all times. This leaves the nation with no choice but to cut down on the immigration from the non-EU nations.

Being an island continent, Australia is considered to be large to accommodate as many immigrants as possible. But then people forget that it is also the smallest continent. It is a known fact that many immigrants from various developing nations across the world view Australia as a prospective destination to seek better opportunities for life.

However, no matter how big or small each nation is, it can only sustain a certain number of people. If the limits are extended, it would have a dire effect on the resources of the nation. This aspect has led to the Australians worry about the issue with most of them now opposing immigration.

As per one of the recent surveys conducted to obtain the viewpoints of the local Australians on this issue, it was seen that major part of the respondents agreed to put a cap on immigration. This survey was conducted by an independent survey firm known as AustraliaScan. The survey has two thousand respondents. As per the survey, the response could be considered as being almost equivalent to sentiments pertaining to anti-immigration which was prevalent in the late 1990s.

At same time, experts claim that these sentiments are not similar to those of the 1990s. The previous sentiments were based on racist feelings. However, at present the responses have arrived due to the issues of sustainability of the nation.

This is because despite being an island continent, it has only limited number of resources at its disposal. With the population constantly on the rise, these limited resources would be depleted too soon. As of now, the main trigger behind this sudden increase is definitely immigration.

On the other hand, with population comes pollution. This would have dire effects on the environment which cannot be compromised at any cost. It is but obvious that with pollution would lead to the generation of toxins which would make the land not fit to dwell on.

Another aspect of high importance amongst the citizen of Australia is the issue of security. It is a known fact that global terrorism is a major threat that the world is dealing with today. With this comes international crime. Keeping this aspect in place, immigration would mean simply inviting more trouble. Putting a cap on immigration would to an extent cater to this problem.

With the above key points in place, it cannot be said that the issue would be solved in the near future. As of now, the Australian government has brought about certain amends which has restricted the course of prospective immigrants.

Australia: Two Sri Lankans have requested to the Australian High Court to have a second thought for their asylum status. The concerned members of the Tamil ethnic group had their detention in the year 2009. They were kept at Christmas Island, a detention center where boat people intending to enter the country are kept.

The case got complicated as their case was assessed by an officer from an Immigration department before asylum was rejected. Further the decision was upheld by a Federal government contractor who was working at Christmas Island. Therefore, they (applauded as M61 and M69) were deported back to Sri Lanka.

Now these Sri Lankans are requesting a lack of procedural fairness. It is due to the fact that their case was not given personal attention by the Immigration Minister. It is said that applicants who have been denied the refugee status have the freedom to file their appeals to the Immigration minister. But the final decision would be left to the Immigration minister. Contrary to that, boat people are not given the right to appeal in front of the minister.

Now these concerned people fear persecution from the Sri Lankan army, as well as other groups in paramilitary field as well as government agents. Various people in Sydney are showing their support in their case. Sending them back to their home countries means their lives would face all kinds of dangers there.

Sri Lanka has recently announced the suspension of its plans to scrap on-arrival visas for the citizens as well as tourists coming from various parts of the globe including US, Australia, Japan and Europe.

It was officially announced by the government that it would be suspending the landing endorsements and the decided date of its suspension was kept 30th of the month of September. Immigration experts had a view that the earlier move of withdrawal of On-Arrival visa would hamper the island’s image and would diploid its tourism industry in a major way.

According to immigration controller W.A.C. Perera, a notice has been issued regarding the taking-off of on-arrival visa. And the policy is considered suspended until any further notice is not given in this regard. The government has not given any other follow-up statement after confirming the suspension of withdrawal of On-Arrival Visa.

Perera also confirmed that those visiting the country would be speculated to get their visas from a Sri Lankan mission abroad prior to their arrival to Sri Lanka. But as far as the tourists who come from Singapore and Maldives are concerned, they are relieved from this restriction as tourists from these nations are given grant Sri Lankan passport holders visa on arrival.

The final word to make the rules stringent earlier came into effect when their wears fears of the attacks from Tamil Tiger rebels.

In addition, the country is looking forward to enhance its tourism industry, doubling the number of tourists intending to come to the island to 600,000.

An asylum seeker who was given the status of refugee by Australia is now finding his future in suspect by both Thailand and Lao. TOUA Vang Cheng, the concerned person has spent all his life till now escaping persecution. He is lying in an uncertain future and this living is not just for day but he goes through this feeling day after another.

Finally, he was given the humanitarian visa to resettle in the land of Kangaroos in the year 2007. But nothing has been confirmed to him till now. Since that time, he has been roaming in various camps and finding his life in a limbo as Thailand and Lao, both are not giving him an exit visa. Therefore, he is finding it difficult to move to Australia too.

It was in the December of 2009, when he along with other refugees and asylum seekers were deported from Thailand coercively by the army of Thailand, back to their detention camps which are located in Laos.

Australia on the other hand is furious about the whole incident and stated that it was working on the procedure to resettle 47 of the group which has been deported. In addition to that Vang, along with other people has already been given humanitarian visas to stay in the land of Kangaroos. But now, he has again fled and hiding somewhere in central Thailand.

His future is lying in limbo. He has no employment and is left with no hope. No official comment has come from the side of Thai and Lao government.

With the recent reports on racial attacks on Indian students which had taken the nation aback, there was a significant decrease in the number of students going to Australia to pursue their higher education. According to a recent report from CNBC – TV18, when compared to the previous year, there has been a drop by about forty percent in the number of student visa applications from India.

With the above figures in place, the Department of Immigration in Australia is taking steps in order to assure the Indian students (the young students who are prospective candidates for studying in Australia) that the nation is safe.

According to Peter N Varghese, the Australian High Commissioner, several measures are being taken to ease the issue. As of now, the authorities are working on making the policies pertaining to immigration, a bit more relaxed. This is being done by conducting seminars across the world. Also, a special immigration policy is also being introduced for the students from India. More so, other factors that are catering to this problem are the global economy which is unstable along with the fluctuations in currency.

Apart from the measures being taken by the government, there are many institutions which are providing sponsorship in order to attract to students from India. This is because these students are the ones who cater to the higher education and lead to significant contribution to the economy of the nation. The High Commission has mentioned that it is sure of the increased number of visa applications from Indian students in the near future.

In a hearing by the High Court, it was forced for the Commonwealth to fight for the legality of immigration detention. This has come about in reference to a hearing for an application regarding the overturning of a decision taken by the Federal Government.

This decision involved the rejection of applications submitted by two men of Sri Lankan origin. These men came to Christmas Island in October last year. They claimed that if they are deported back to Sri Lanka, they would be persecuted. It is also being said that these men are supposed to be the supporters of the Tamil Tigers movement which is a paramilitary and banned in many countries.

These men wanted Chris Evans, the Immigration Minister for Australia to step in and look into their case. However, the Minister refused as he felt it was none of his duty to intervene.

Justice Maree Crennan, questioned Stephen Gageler, SC, the Solicitor-General about the conditions on which these asylum seekers have been detained. These questions were asked during the proceedings. According to Mr. Gageler, this has been mentioned very clearly in the Migration Act.

The above is just one aspect of the growing number of asylum seekers and illegal migration that is hitting Australia lately. With this, suspected members of terrorist organizations is another threat which nations are facing across the world. Comprehensive work and approach is needed in order to come about with a solution to this problem.

Raising English language standard for the nurses intending to immigrate to Australia has left nurses from India in a state of limbo. Also, a decision has been made to deport all those nurses’ applicants who have exceeded their visa durations if they fail to fulfill the English language requirement decked with the same. It has further raised concerns. The decision would surely affect the number of nurses intending to work in the land of Kangaroos in the upcoming future.

According to the mandates set by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, it has been speculated that the future of all those nurses would be left in a state of confinement provided they fail to perform in accordance with the standards set for level seven.

It is mandatory that these nurses should hold a proper conversation, both verbally and in writing, if they have communicate and understand their patients and discuss issues with other health care professionals. The same has been confirmed by Nursing and Midwifery Board. It further added that one of its roles is to protect the public.

Some protests have been witnessed against the raised standards in the recent times. Some of them are claiming that they have not been informed about this sudden change in the rules and regulations. Now they are worried about their future. A majority of student nurses are from India, China and Thailand.

Some of them have gone though tough financial conditions to apply for the enrolment, but now they are finding themselves in uncertainty.

A populist solution has been followed by both- Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister and Tony Abbott, the Leader of Opposition. This approach has been adopted in order to develop the infrastructure of the nation by cutting on the number of skilled migrants walking into Australia.

However, it seems as if some of the major factors have not been considered while planning. Contrary to the Rudd government which had plans for a “Big Australia” by 2050, the current government intends to cut down on immigration. As per Gillard and Abbott, it is important for the nation to be sustainable first so that it is able to accommodate the large numbers of immigrants walking into the nation each year.

At the same time, many critics have been arguing of this reason as being invalid. The main reason being that immigration has proved that there has been an expansion in the domestic economy of the nation. More so, the nation has had huge benefits when it came to regional communities. Also, not much has been done when it comes to the constant shortage of labor in the nation. This is only expected to increase in the coming decade as about 3.3 million baby boomers are walking towards retirement.

So, sustainability is not the main concern here as said by the leaders above. However, it does need more skilled migrants who can work, manage and establish urban planning in regional areas which need such development. Growth in population would lead the returning of raw commodity exports into the domestic economy which would be expanding. This would automatically create new jobs, thus hiking the economy further. This would strengthen the links at a global platform.

Above all, whatever happens, the nation would require more immigrants in the future to cater to its economy without which the economy would slowly crumble due to the lack of skilled workers.