a
See
our NEW:
RANKING
of Australian Universities for their Treatment of INTERNATIONAL
STUDENTS
Are International students unwise to study at Australian
Universities?
To quote Megumi Ogawa in SMH:
Ms Ogawa said outside the Federal Magistrate's Court on Friday 28th
July, 2006, "[The]
judge even says this decision is unjust. Every court considers it
unjust, but every court will not do anything, so this is a
strong message to international students, how dangerous it is to study
in Australia."
International Students should
be very cautious of studying in Australia. As happened to Megumi
Ogawa, if you think you will study in Australia, and if you have a
dispute with the Australian University, the university, as did the University of Melbourne, can have
you locked up at an immigration detention centre for over two
months. Do you want to
risk that?
The Melbourne newspaper "The Age"
article on the 29th July, 2006 explains Megumi's case to that
juncture very well.
As stated by the ABC am
program on 29 July, 2006, "Ms Ogawa is suspicious that she was
locked up on the 19th of May, days after a court agreed to hear a claim
against the University." It seemed as though the university and
DIMIA [Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous
Affairs] were working together as immediately after any directions
hearing in the legal saga, [as the University tried to derail the legal
action], DIMIA would send a letter. I believe DIMIA and the University of
Melbourne have done irreparable harm to Australia's prospects of
attracting International Students to study in Australia. According
to ABC
PM, on 27 June, 2006, Megumi stated that three days before DIMIA
(Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs)
had the Federal Police arrest her and incarcerate her [detain her at
Villawood], the Federal Court ordered a trial date of her legal action
against the University of Melbourne. That detention was
preparatory to having Megumi deported. Only by applying for
political asylum was Megumi able to avoid deportation.
Deportation would have meant that University of Melbourne
prevailed. Clearly they had tried this approach to "win".
Soon after Megumi's release from detention on a protection visa,
University of Melbourne contacted a contact point for Megumi suggesting
negotiation. University of Melbourne is reputed to be one
of the better universities in Auatralia, so clearly, that has gone to
the heads of the people at University of Melbourne, who think they can
ride rough shod over students, especially international students.
Consider the case of Megumi Ogawa. She has a law degree from Waseda
University and a Masters from the Yokohama National University.
Read
these three articles from the media, SMH,
ABC
AM and ABC
PM to see what
you think.
I became aware of Megumi Ogawa's situation when I was informally
consulted while in the Law Library of the University of Queensland when
Megumi was initiating proceedings in the Federal Court as I was known
to have had substantial experience of Federal Court proceedings.
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