Police in Melbourne have arrested 69 people for thefts and robberies targeting Chinese students at the University of Melbourne in response to a crimewave that has attracted the attention of the Chinese consulate general.

In a statement, Victoria police said it had charged 13 people with robbery and 56 with theft over incidents that have occurred on the university’s campus and in the surrounding suburb of Carlton and the city centre since 1 January.

Police said they were concerned about the number of robberies and were conducting patrols around the university.

“These incidents have generally taken place in the late hours of the evening, most commonly involving personal items (ie phones) being snatched from victims in public,” the statement said. “While no physical injuries have been inflicted, the events have understandably been quite confronting for the victims.”



Students targeted by the thefts have also contacted the Melbourne office of the Chinese consulate. The deputy consul general, Lin Jing, spoke at an event organised with Victoria police at the university last month, telling Chinese students about personal safety, Victorian laws around theft and robbery and the protection the consulate could offer.

Police reportedly used the event to reassure students that being the victim of a crime would not affect their visa status.

The spike in thefts has prompted the university to send safety alerts to students via social media and its student intranet.

“A number of actions have been taken by the university, including increasing security patrols and providing a dedicated security escort service for students,” a university spokesman, David Scott, said. “The university will continue to work closely with Victoria police to ensure the safety of its students and staff.”

The University of Melbourne Chinese Students and Scholars Association, which helped organise the event with Lin, has warned its 3,500 members to remain vigilant, and the story has been picked up by Chinese state media.

It’s not the first time Melbourne has received negative press for the treatment of international students. In 2009 and 2010, a series of brutal attacks on Indian students culminated in the fatal stabbing of 21-year-old accounting graduate Nitin Garg, which soured the relationship between India and Australia and saw India issue a warning to parents not to send their children to study in Australia.

The international education sector is worth $16.3bn annually to the Australian economy and, according to a 2011 report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the largest group of international students, accounting for 20% of the 250,000 student visas approved that year, are from China.