Australian Migration Challenges

There was a time not so long ago when the world knew way too less about countries like Canada and Australia. It used to be a surprise moment if ever there used to be any news that would come out of these countries. I guess speaking of Australia, India as a nation knew only about picture perfect cricket grounds, Don Bradman, kangaroos and the likes.

As education became more and more expensive in the US and UK, and Canada being a small job market, Australia started to become a hot destination for young Indian students at the start of the 2000 decade. The mission of all young Indian students was off course to get the coveted Permanent Residency of Australia and eventually the Australian Passport.

The Australian government didn’t muck around and embraced young Indians with open arms. Australian immigration requirements were too easy for the Indian students to meet and both parties couldn’t have got a better deal. The Australian economy pocketed huge sums of money by full fee paying International students and the Australian job market got its much required taxi drivers, cooks, cleaners, etc. The young Indian students obviously loved the deal as hairdressing or a cookery course would have definitely not taken them anywhere back home.

The relaxed immigration laws also started bringing in some accounting and IT professionals into Australia and soon those Indian students were making their way into the professional job market. As compared to the scenario back in 2002-03, suddenly there were more and more Indians visible on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney. Although the immigration laws have toughened up a little bit but there are more and more Indians making their way to Australia.

The one thing that has certainly changed in the Australian job market is that the employers have a much wider choice these days when it comes to getting a better deal in an employer-employee scenario. They say the times are slowly going away when an employer used to find it hard to have his petrol station manned for the whole night or his taxi driven on a Easter weekend or Christmas eve. The migrant population is ever so hungry and they’ll take every opportunity available to earn that extra buck.

From the eyes of an average Australian, I see the whole scenario as a big problem. It is hard for them to believe that migrants turned Australians are changing the way of life in Australia and claiming their space in the mainstream. This all may sound naïve but the fact is that when Chinese New Year and Diwali celebrations start to be bigger than Christmas, it doesn’t sit well with an average Australian. The human nature is such that it is very possessive about its own turf and if there’s any threat to it, it leads the human mind on a dangerous path. To be fair to the Australians, no other nation likes it either. In India itself, forget international migration, we as a nation are intolerant of interstate migration.

Australia has a very recent history of immigrants and it will take time for the citizens of this nation to gain maturity on how to peacefully co-exist in this multicultural environment. In the meantime, there are more and more second generation kids of the migrant population who are gaining top positions at school, universities and at workplaces, and the Australians need to take the challenge head-on.