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Reuters

Australia will not allow foreign students to return as Canberra prioritises the return of locals stuck overseas, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.
Australia has since March closed its borders to all non-citizens and permanent residents in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19.
With foreign students worth about A$35 billion (US$25.3 billion) a year to the Australian economy, Canberra had hoped to slowly allow overseas students to return in 2021. Trials began earlier this year. But with thousands of Australians wanting to return, Morrison said there are not enough quarantine facilities.
“There is a queue, and Australians are in the front of the queue,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.
Chinese students in Australia leave as coronavirus upends study
Australia caps the numbers of locals allowed to return home each week in order to minimise the risk of spreading Covid-19.
Once locals arrive, they enter hotel quarantine for two weeks.
Australia on Friday was on course to record a sixth straight day without any locally acquired infections. Australia has recorded about 27,700 Covid-19 infections and 907 deaths, far fewer than many other developed nations.
‘We’re like cash cows’: stranded Chinese students upset after Australia’s coronavirus travel ban
The continued ban on foreign students deepens a financial black hole facing Australian education providers, estimated to be worth between A$3.1 billion and A$4.8 billion this year alone, Catriona Jackson, chief executive of Universities Australia, said earlier this year.
Educational think-tank the Mitchell Institute earlier this week estimated there would be 300,000 fewer international students, half the pre-coronavirus numbers, in Australia by June 2021 if border restrictions remained.


Australia’s most populous city, Sydney is expected to see a decline of more than 70,000 students, Mitchell Institute said.
Several leading universities have announced sweeping job cuts in a bid to reduce costs. In October, Morrison’s government said it will spend A$1 billion to support university research amid the fall in overseas students.
Australia’s universities hit by loss of ‘cash cow’ foreign students
Earlier this year, about 150,000 Chinese nationals were enrolled at Australian universities, making up around 11 per cent of the student population – a far greater proportion than in Britain and the United States. Some Australian universities rely on Chinese students for nearly one-quarter of their revenue.
New enrolments from China fell 8 per cent in the first half of the year, compared with a gain of 4 per cent across 2019, according to government data.
Further darkening the prospects for Australian universities, Beijing recently urged students going overseas to think carefully before choosing Australia, citing a spate of racist incidents targeting Asians during the pandemic.
The warning came after Morrison in April told foreign students to go back to their home countries if they were unable to make ends meet during the pandemic, adding they were not entitled to any welfare payments.


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China-Australia relations

Foreign students cannot return to Australia, government says, citing shortage of Covid-19 quarantine facilities

An international student from China arrives at Sydney airport earlier this year. Photo: Reuters

Chinese students in Australia are being targeted in kidnapping scams, police warn

In May, federal police said they were investigating at least 25 cases of kidnapping extortion scams targeting Chinese students. Photo: AFP

A woman walks past signage for Australian universities in Melbourne's central business district on June 10, 2020, as Australian officials and leading universities rejected China's claims students should be "cautious" in choosing to study Down Under because of concerns over racist incidents during the coronavirus pandemic. - China's Ministry of Education told students on June 9 there had been "multiple discriminatory incidents against Asians in Australia" during the pandemic, ramping up diplomatic tensions between the two countries. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

Chinese students in Australia leave as coronavirus upends study

There is an exodus of international students in Australia as the coronavirus pandemic hits. Photo: Reuters

Sunny Gu and his girlfriend Maggie Zhang, international students from China both studying for a Masters in Commerce at the University of Sydney, wear face masks as they ride a bus together, after lockdown measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak were eased, in Sydney, Australia, August 11, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott SEARCH "INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AUSTRALIA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

International students from China Karoline Li, Shiyu Bao, Katerina Ma and Elma Song walk along the waterfront by the Sydney Opera House, after lockdown measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak were eased, in Sydney, Australia, June 24, 2020. "A majority of my friends have gone back home but I really want to stay here," Said Bao. REUTERS/Loren Elliott SEARCH "INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AUSTRALIA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Maggie Zhang and her boyfriend Sunny Gu, international students from China both studying for a Masters in Commerce at the University of Sydney, take photos together on the university campus, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sydney, Australia, August 11, 2020. "Online classes have lost the real meaning of studying abroad," Gu said. REUTERS/Loren Elliott SEARCH "INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AUSTRALIA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES

National security law: Australian universities move to protect Hong Kong students

A makeshift “Lennon Wall” at the University of Queensland in Brisbane in August 2019. Photo: AFP

Shiyu Bao (centre) and her fellow classmates who are international students from China, get ready to take pictures in their graduation gowns around campus at the University of Sydney, after their in-person graduation ceremony was cancelled during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Sydney, Australia, July 4, 2020. "I have polished my resume and have applied for a few jobs but I've had no success so far. I'm willing to do even unpaid internships as long as I get to stay here," said Bao. REUTERS/Loren Elliott SEARCH "INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS AUSTRALIA" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

FILE PHOTO: A university student wears her mortar hat following her graduation ceremony from the School of Commerce at the University of Sydney in Australia, April 22, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo

===PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese students clash during a pro-democracy protest at the university of Queensland in Australia. Photo: Twitter

Australia’s universities hit by loss of ‘cash cow’ foreign students, as coronavirus vaccine race heats up

A researcher works at a University of Queensland (UQ) laboratory, as part of an effort to develop a potential Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: Xinhua

SHUTTERSTOCK 1411944386 Forgan Smith Building in University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus. UQ is a famous university in Brisbane, Australia (03/2007). - Image

Scientists work inside the CSL Biotech facility after CSL announced it had agreed to develop the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine that could be available in Australia by early 2021, in Melbourne, Australia, September 7, 2020. AAP Image/James Ross via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT

‘We’re like cash cows’: stranded Chinese students upset after Australia’s coronavirus travel ban

Some 150,000 Chinese nationals are enrolled at Australian universities, making up around 11 per cent of the student population. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese tourists from Shenzhen and Hong Kong in Australian outback, in front of termite mound, Northern Territory, Australia. 29AUG18 SCMP / Alkira Reinfrank [FEATUES 2018]

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Asia

Australasia


Foreign students are worth about US$25.3 billion a year to the Australian economy
‘There is a queue, and Australians are in the front of the queue,’ PM Scott Morrison said



Foreign students are worth about US$25.3 billion a year to the Australian economy but that has been severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.


Foreign students cannot return to Australia, government says, citing shortage of Covid-19 quarantine facilities

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Foreign students are worth about US$25.3 billion a year to the Australian economy ‘There is a queue, and Australians are in the front of the queue,’ PM Scott Morrison said

Foreign students are worth about US$25.3 billion a year to the Australian economy

‘There is a queue, and Australians are in the front of the queue,’ PM Scott Morrison said