CANBERRS
Australia’s newly-appointed Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Sunday confirmed that Canberra is examining how to allow Palestinians on temporary visitor visas to stay in the country longer.
Burke told Sky News that it was appropriate to issue visitor visas when war broke out in Gaza on Oct.7, “but they are now reaching their expiry.”
He confirmed the government is looking at “the next step” for those affected but has yet to make a final decision. So, he could not reveal further details.
“Certainly no country in the world would send people back to Gaza at the moment, no country in the world would do that; so we have to work through what happens as the visas that people are currently on expire,” he said.
Burke did not respond to the question of whether the government is considering offering “Safe Haven” visas or other forms of permanent protection.
Temporary visas are valid for three to 12 months and do not allow recipients to work, attend school, or receive medical care.
A Safe Haven visa allows a five-year stay in Australia, while an indefinite stay is permitted under a permanent Protection Visa. Those two visas also allow holders to access certain government services like Medicare.
“They’ve suffered great loss of family and friends with the killings that have occurred over there, and they’re also in a situation where for many of them the homes where they used to live are now rubble,” Burke added.
According to opposition spokesman Andrew Hastie, the idea “looks hurried” and the opposition would “want to see as much detail as possible.”
“We don’t want to see hurried visas issued out of political expediency,” Hastie told Sky News.
As of 30 June, Australia had granted 2,823 temporary visas to Palestinians, including 2,499 visitor visas, since Oct. 7. It had granted 3,309 visitor visas to people declaring Israeli citizenship, as of 31 March.
As of May 31, some 1,120 Palestinians have arrived in Australia.
In March, Canberra admitted to canceling visas for Palestinians fleeing Gaza, which has been under Israeli attacks.
In June, the Australian government denied a visa to the head of Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub.
The Albanese government has faced intense criticism for its stand on Palestine, with calls on Canberra to end arms supplies to Israel.
