Visas for Chinese students continue to be approved at much higher rates than other source countries. A former top immigration bureaucrat is urging the government to overhaul the system.
Chinese students vastly outnumber counterparts of other nationalities seeking asylum in Australia as the country faces a recent surge in study visa holders claiming protection following a Labor crackdown on international education.
Australian National University higher education expert Andrew Norton agreed: “I would not be in the least bit surprised if these numbers did go up.”Migration is shaping up as a key battlefront in the leadup to the federal election, with Labor and the Coalition adopting tough stances over the number of temporary arrivals.
As student visa approval rates continue to be signed off at record lows, at 79 per cent, Chinese students are bucking the trend, with nearly 94 per cent of applications approved, while just 66 per cent of Indian students are given visas, and 76 per cent of Colombians. Refugee Legal executive director David Manne said he represented Chinese nationals who had clear-cut claims for protection from persecution and “in many cases have been successful under rigorous legal assessment by the Australian government”.
In announcing a suite of measures to overhaul the integrity of the migration system in October last year, O’Neil said there was a problem with baseless asylum claims clogging up the system and taking years to resolve.
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