AT least two overseas students studying at the University of Newcastle were assaulted at Jesmond on Sunday in the latest in a new string of attacks on students.

Police have confirmed they are investigating the assaults that occurred as part of an attempted robbery on Blue Gum Road, Jesmond, about 2pm.

Police said the two Asian students received minor injuries.

In other incidents a female Muslim student last week reportedly had her headscarf pulled off and was verbally abused while in the city.

A Malaysian student was also reportedly sexually harassed by two men who made explicit gestures and comments to her earlier this year.

A Mexican post-graduate student was assaulted during a home invasion on University Drive before semester, but has since moved to student accommodation.

The Herald reported in January that international students from Kenya, Morocco, Sudan and India, said they were subjected to racial taunts during an incident at a Hamilton pub where one of them was assaulted.

The 2010 incidents follow a series of attacks in and around Callaghan Campus in 2009 that saw a number of people, including juveniles, charged. Many are still before the courts.

The attacks prompted the formation of a community taskforce and safety campaign by the university.

Newcastle University student association international convener Eduardo Carvajal said news of the latest attacks were distressing but the university was not to blame.

"I don't know why people would go and bash people like animals," he said.

"The problem is far from the university, the problem is becoming a part of the community."