50 Indians found working illegally in Australia

18/07/2008 0 Comments read Diaspora, Migration

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 18.07.2008 (IANS): Fifty Indian workers have been found by Immigration officials to be working illegally in Australia since last July even as Immigration Minister Chris Evans Friday warned severe penalties would be imposed on people who hired workers without proper working visas.

“Rogue employers face fines of up to A$13,200 (US$12,834) and two years’ imprisonment while companies face fines of up to A$66,000 per illegal worker,” the immigration minister said.

The highest number of illegal workers was from Malaysia, 374, followed by China (145), Indonesia (89), Britain (67), Philippines (51), India (50), Vietnam (48), Thailand (44) South Korea (32) and Ireland (21).

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Was Haneef a victim of conspiracy for political gains?

18/06/2008 0 Comments read Diaspora, Migration

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 18.06.2008 (IANS): Was Indian doctor Muhammad Haneef a victim of conspiracy for political gains? Documents obtained by Haneef’s legal team under Freedom of Information laws indicate that the then prime minister’s office became involved in the case within 48 hours of Haneef’s arrest in connection with the botched British bombings July 2, 2007.

Documents reveal officers from the then prime minister John Howard’s office and cabinet met with counterparts from the immigration and foreign affairs departments to discuss options for handling Haneef’s case July 4.

The former Gold Coast registrar was arrested at Brisbane airport on the night of July 2, just before boarding a flight to India.

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At home in the world: Indian diaspora in Australia

07/11/2007 1 Comment read Diaspora, Features, Migration

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 07.11.2007: Nestling amidst the unkempt undergrowth of native shrubs, a haven for Rainbow lorikeets, kookaburras, bush rats and possums, Ian De Mellow’s home in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga has kept alive his memories of a childhood spent in a Delhi bungalow with sprawling gardens.

“When you live in Australia for some years, as in India, the land itself permeates your soul”, says De Mellow, who arrived on the shores of Sydney in 1948 at the age of 13 with his mother and half-sister. His father, whose career as a superintending engineer in the central Public Works Department was bluntly nipped with all senior posts in independent India going to Indians, joined them four years later.

“There was a tremendous sense of betrayal and disillusionment with the British Raj”, he says. “My mother was part of the secret committee for air evacuation of Europeans, in case the post-partition riots spilled over to consume the European population”.

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