Checks on Australian work visas to curb illegal immigration

Australia, 16th June: Australian work visas of Brisbane taxi drivers are being checked by police officials to control illegal immigration in the region.

The move is a part of the crackdown on illegal immigrants working in Australia and to make sure that all the drivers of taxis in Australia have the legal right to do so. Moreover, the police officials claim that they want to ensure about the safety of the taxis plying on Australian roads including the license and the road worthiness of the taxis. 

It may be mentioned that a majority of taxi drivers in Brisbane hail from India and have been in Australia on valid Australian work visas which gives them the legal right to live and work in Australia.
 
Meanwhile, a few of such taxi drivers are said to be illegal immigrants in Brisbane. 

The crackdown also claimed that out of eight cabs, nearly one cab was found to be unfit for the roads. 

A total of 17 drivers were handed over notices for defective vehicles out of the total 142 taxis checked by the Brisbane police officials in the crackdown spanning six hours.

As per the manual by the Queensland Police Traffic, any major defect is the one that makes the vehicle unsafe due to brakes, excessive rust and steering mechanism. Hence, any major defect in the vehicle needs prohibition of plying of the vehicle on roads. 

In addition, the Brisbane police officials along with immigration officers also checked the status of Australian visas of drivers. 

The recent crackdown by Brisbane police officials targeting immigrant taxi drivers comes close on the heels of the protests staged by several Indian taxi drivers at Brisbane Airport over poor working conditions including rough handling by Queensland police officials and lack of proper waiting zones available at airport in Brisbane. 

The Indian cabby drivers’ protest resulted in locking of their taxis and refusal to carry passengers in Brisbane. 

The protesting drivers said that they were protesting about rude behavior of Australian Federal Police adding that they were asked to report for every minute thing. Also, they were becoming soft targets of criminals who assaulted or robbed them at weekends.