Asian women on student visas join sex trade Down Under

Melbourne, Sept 1 (ANI): The Australian immigration department has found that young Asian women who come to the country on student visas are instead working in brothels.

In its investigation, it found that the women are earning up to 10,000 dollars a week as sex workers, and that brothel websites openly advertise "new fresh girls" arriving regularly from countries like South Korea, Thailand, China and Japan.

One Asian woman under investigation was discovered to have not attended even a single lesson at the English course she signed up for.

She had instead been working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week at a group of four city brothels, while a fellow prostitute attended courses in her place by using her name.

In Australia, holders of student visas are allowed to work up to 20 hours a week while their course is in session and unlimited hours during course breaks, but must attend their nominated course.

DIAC fraud officers were alerted to widespread abuse of student visas, with some of the sex workers paying corrupt immigration agents in their own country up to 8000 dollars to arrange their "visas" under the foreign student program.

Many worked as prostitutes in their home countries and came to Australia freely to make more money to send to their families overseas - using dodgy cash brokers so they do not alert AUSTRAC, which must be notified of transactions of 10,000 dollars or more.

Moreover, a huge number of the women are encouraged by the brothel owners to earn extra money by performing unsafe sex without condoms.

"One woman reported to me that she doesn't bother with regular health checks for HIV and hep B and C and she happily provides 'natural' sex services to clients that pay her well if she thinks they look 'clean' because she doesn't believe HIV is prevalent here in Australia," the Daily Telegraph quoted one man, who knows several of the women, as saying.

The man, who asked not to be named, has also spoken to immigration department investigators.

"They don't have tax file numbers, they are paid cash in hand. It is totally immoral. The worst girls are making 2000 dollars a week and the top girls earn 10,000 dollars," he added. (ANI)