Universities in New South Wales (NSW) have been warned about instances of sexual exploitation among international students amid a strong comeback of the international education sector.
NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner James Cockayne recently wrote to 10 universities in the state, informing them about cases of exploitation against international students. He expressed concern that authorities were falling behind in tackling the issue, as reported by The Australian newspaper.
“We’ve seen instances of international students forced to marry once here. People have been–through fraud, force, or coercion–forced to take work that they haven’t agreed to do.’’
The commissioner said there were many reasons why many international students fell victim to criminals’ exploitation practices: language barriers, poverty, a lack of family support, and an understanding of Australian laws.
The problem was exacerbated by the housing crisis and rising living costs, which pushed many international students into risky situations, he added.
“We see what we believe is significant under-reporting of forced labour, deceptive recruiting, and debt bondage in the international student cohort because they’re fearful of losing visa status,’’ he said.
“They’re fearful of retaliation against themselves, or in some situations, the family offshore.”
Mr. Cockayne said some dodgy education providers and agencies might be involved in recruiting international students for illegitimate purposes.
Nevertheless, the commission acknowledged that many universities in NSW had taken measures to prevent the exploitation of international students.
While international students are vulnerable to exploitation, migrants and even domestic workers can also fall prey to unscrupulous employment practices.
Strong Recovery of International Education Sector
Mr. Cockayne’s warning comes as Australia’s international education sector has rebounded strongly after the Labor government reopened the borders in 2022.The figure broke the previous record of 664,178 in September 2023 and marked the first time that the number of international students hit the 700,000 milestone.
The influx of international students came despite the government’s efforts to curb the massive flow of migrants, which resulted from its post-COVID-19 pandemic policies.
As part of the strategy, the government would target student visa holders who prolong their stay in Australia without a clear pathway to permanent residency.
To solve the problem of “permanent temporariness,” the government wanted to shorten graduate visas and end settings that allowed graduates to prolong their stay in Australia when they were less likely to become permanent residents.
The migration reforms also aimed to improve the quality and integrity of Australia’s international education sector by raising the minimum English language requirements for student and graduate visas.
