Melbourne Hundreds of international students, including Indians, held a peaceful rally in Sydney on Thursday protesting Australia’s revised skilled occupation list (SOL) which excludes jobs like hairdressing and cookery.
The rally took place this morning from Sydney Town Hall up to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship offices near Central Railway Station.
In a statement, Australian Federation of International Students (AFIS), the organiser of the rally, said the students were upset over the government’s amendments to the skilled occupation list.
The AFIS said it believed that existing transitionary measures were unfair to students who have acted in good faith in the pursuit of Australian education to become skilled independent migrants.
Many such students would have had invested a substantial amount of time, effort and money to enhance their skills in a skilled area of practice, only to find that their options to further a career in that chosen field are now severely limited, it said.
The AFIS contended that it was only fair that these genuine cases should be treated no differently from existing Temporary Residency (485) visa holders and be allowed to apply for skilled (independent) migration with the current SOL.
According to AFIS NSW Executive Prateek Aggarwal, “Australian government has the right to act in the interest of the Australian public. The primary objective for international students should be to further their academic and experiential knowledge.” “As long as changes to immigration policy do not infringe on the rights of international students, and that is the right to have a high quality Australian education, we understand that the government reserves the right to make these changes,” he said.
“However, at the same time, we should also be mindful that graduating international students acting on good faith and planning to become skilled independent workers should not be disadvantaged and put into a state of anxiety.
“More appropriate transitionary measures are needed,” he Said.
Source:http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Int-students-protest-Australia-s-new-skilled-occupation-list/628953/
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