Organized crime targets Australian universities

Organized crime targets Australian universities

Australia’s foreign education sector worth $16 billion is becoming a hot target of organized crime, reveals a report by the Australian Immigration Department.
The report by the immigration consultants Ernst & Young to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) proved that bogus students are exploiting the tertiary education providers. Earlier too, fraud and crime were prevalent but the organized criminal gangs focused on small vocational institutes like independent language schools and private colleges.
The report clearly states that organized crime targeting higher education in Australia has reached a worrying stage in the recent months. It was revealed that 40 percent of the student visas fraud detected last year was targeted at universities and vocational colleges.
Findings of the report highlighted the fact that out of total student visas refused during the period from July 2008 till April 2009, 39 percent were aimed at fraud involving higher education. And to the surprise of not just immigrant officials but the university leaders in Australia, there has been a worrying increase in this percentage which moved up to 53 percent in a span of just three months by June end 2009.
The report calls for an immediate need to curb this growing menace of international criminal activity targeting the education sector of Australia. For this, the Australian administration needs to work in close association with their local governments as well as law enforcement agencies of foreign governments to check such frauds.
The increased trend of organized crime witnessed in Australia can be attributed to the stricter visa and immigration norms introduced by several European nations including United States.
Moreover, the problem needs an immediate attention of various leaders of universities to check its growing impact on higher education.
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has already geared up to tackle any incidence of fraud by applying increased security measures to immigrants coming from countries including India, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Nepal and Mauritius.