Indian student deportation crisis: politics in action, diplomacy at risk
Two things have happened in the last few days in New Zealand politics around the high-profile Indian student deportation issue that has slightly gone unnoticed by many political pundits.
First, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has demonstrated an unusually uncompassionate response towards the plight of 150 Indian students facing immediate deportation, on the pretext of invoking a prophecy of "responsibility of educational institutions and students themselves," in allegedly failing to verify the validity of visa documents provided to New Zealand immigration. A position not many would agree is attuned with the National's traditional stance towards immigration in New Zealand.
Second, NZ First leader Winston Peters makes a sympathetic call to the government to let the students stay in New Zealand claiming a need "to rescue this country's reputation of dealing with people, regardless of where they come from, fairly". Again, a departure from the traditional pitch of NZ First's leader that we are more habituated to expect.
Either something is unusual about the current New Zealand politics or we are just seeing a "strategic reorientation" of key political players, prior to entering the much-awaited election year ahead.
Otherwise what explains such hardened, and to some extent, a morally unsustainable stand, by a senior minister in the National's government, when many insiders believe that a high-level foreign visit to India is in the order soon.
Politics and diplomacy have always a difficult relationship, and most of the times, when politics is in action, diplomacy is either at risk or have to wait, whatever is "less costly" for those involved. The Indian student deportation crisis is definitely a case where politics is in action and has a potential to put diplomacy at risk.
The issue of the presence of a large number of unscrupulous education and visa agents back in India who put NZ immigration system under tremendous strain is widely, and possibly mutually, acknowledged by New Zealand and Indian authorities. Therefore, the timing of this issue when there are reports that Prime Minister John Key might be travelling to India soon on a personal invite by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, supposedly to streamline some mutual foreign policy goals, raises some eyebrows.
The fact that until Saturday last week, Indian High Commissioner Sanjeev Kohli was not even approached by the NZ authorities to be briefed about the impending situation and the government's possible course of action, does imply that the government is inclined to see the political value of this issue rather than any diplomatic cost, if any.
Following the trajectory of these events, two important implications can be drawn.
First and foremost, politically, this visible "strategic reorientation" among the two key political players, where the Nationals and the New Zealand First party are seen as warming up to each other's respective political constituencies, could possibly lead to a "strategic realignment" between them in future.
Secondly, the Indian High Commissioner has already expressed his dismay on the issue stating that it was "grossly unfair" to target students who had already started and invested heavily in their studies. "Action, if any, has to be against the concerned institutions, their agents and responsibility fixed on those who failed to supervise the process and cleared the visas on the basis of documents presented."
At some similar previous instances of fraud and impending crisis of possible deportation of Indian students, in the United States and Australia, have witnessed a proactive diplomatic action by the then Indian government, fearing a public outcry at home. Apparently, that urgency in India's diplomatic response seems to be missing in this instance.
Either way, there is a clear strain on the diplomacy between the two nations, which cannot be continued for long.
The current situation of diplomatic inaction on both sides could further result in a negative impact on our mutual bilateral relations if this issue is picked up by the Indian media and escalated at a level that can bring discomfort to the government in New Delhi. It is important to note that the Indian state of Punjab, a key destination of NZ education export and naturally expected to be sensitive to the news of deportation of Indian students, is going to elections soon, and can therefore, bring further political pressure on the Narendra Modi government, thus raising the stakes on the issue.
Understandably, sometimes, political goals could lead to an oversight of diplomatic objectives, yet there is no room for complacency in the diplomacy. There is an urgent need for the NZ government to not unduly ignore the diplomatic costs of the issue, by conveniently choosing inaction against educational institutions and visa agents who bring enough revenue to the New Zealand's $3.3 billion education export industry, over the plight of 150 Indian students who have been ripped of a fortune and are facing a threat of deportation.
Sandeep Singh is a former editor of Diplomatist magazine of international affairs and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Waikato.
Two things have happened in the last few days in New Zealand politics around the high-profile Indian student deportation issue that has slightly gone unnoticed by many political pundits.
First, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has demonstrated an unusually uncompassionate response towards...
Two things have happened in the last few days in New Zealand politics around the high-profile Indian student deportation issue that has slightly gone unnoticed by many political pundits.
First, Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has demonstrated an unusually uncompassionate response towards the plight of 150 Indian students facing immediate deportation, on the pretext of invoking a prophecy of "responsibility of educational institutions and students themselves," in allegedly failing to verify the validity of visa documents provided to New Zealand immigration. A position not many would agree is attuned with the National's traditional stance towards immigration in New Zealand.
Second, NZ First leader Winston Peters makes a sympathetic call to the government to let the students stay in New Zealand claiming a need "to rescue this country's reputation of dealing with people, regardless of where they come from, fairly". Again, a departure from the traditional pitch of NZ First's leader that we are more habituated to expect.
Either something is unusual about the current New Zealand politics or we are just seeing a "strategic reorientation" of key political players, prior to entering the much-awaited election year ahead.
Otherwise what explains such hardened, and to some extent, a morally unsustainable stand, by a senior minister in the National's government, when many insiders believe that a high-level foreign visit to India is in the order soon.
Politics and diplomacy have always a difficult relationship, and most of the times, when politics is in action, diplomacy is either at risk or have to wait, whatever is "less costly" for those involved. The Indian student deportation crisis is definitely a case where politics is in action and has a potential to put diplomacy at risk.
The issue of the presence of a large number of unscrupulous education and visa agents back in India who put NZ immigration system under tremendous strain is widely, and possibly mutually, acknowledged by New Zealand and Indian authorities. Therefore, the timing of this issue when there are reports that Prime Minister John Key might be travelling to India soon on a personal invite by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, supposedly to streamline some mutual foreign policy goals, raises some eyebrows.
The fact that until Saturday last week, Indian High Commissioner Sanjeev Kohli was not even approached by the NZ authorities to be briefed about the impending situation and the government's possible course of action, does imply that the government is inclined to see the political value of this issue rather than any diplomatic cost, if any.
Following the trajectory of these events, two important implications can be drawn.
First and foremost, politically, this visible "strategic reorientation" among the two key political players, where the Nationals and the New Zealand First party are seen as warming up to each other's respective political constituencies, could possibly lead to a "strategic realignment" between them in future.
Secondly, the Indian High Commissioner has already expressed his dismay on the issue stating that it was "grossly unfair" to target students who had already started and invested heavily in their studies. "Action, if any, has to be against the concerned institutions, their agents and responsibility fixed on those who failed to supervise the process and cleared the visas on the basis of documents presented."
At some similar previous instances of fraud and impending crisis of possible deportation of Indian students, in the United States and Australia, have witnessed a proactive diplomatic action by the then Indian government, fearing a public outcry at home. Apparently, that urgency in India's diplomatic response seems to be missing in this instance.
Either way, there is a clear strain on the diplomacy between the two nations, which cannot be continued for long.
The current situation of diplomatic inaction on both sides could further result in a negative impact on our mutual bilateral relations if this issue is picked up by the Indian media and escalated at a level that can bring discomfort to the government in New Delhi. It is important to note that the Indian state of Punjab, a key destination of NZ education export and naturally expected to be sensitive to the news of deportation of Indian students, is going to elections soon, and can therefore, bring further political pressure on the Narendra Modi government, thus raising the stakes on the issue.
Understandably, sometimes, political goals could lead to an oversight of diplomatic objectives, yet there is no room for complacency in the diplomacy. There is an urgent need for the NZ government to not unduly ignore the diplomatic costs of the issue, by conveniently choosing inaction against educational institutions and visa agents who bring enough revenue to the New Zealand's $3.3 billion education export industry, over the plight of 150 Indian students who have been ripped of a fortune and are facing a threat of deportation.
Sandeep Singh is a former editor of Diplomatist magazine of international affairs and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Waikato.
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