Revamped visa for Palestinians in Australia will be announced in days
Labor is set to unveil a new visa system for Palestinians, as it faces increasing pressure from Muslim Australians and its left flank to let them stay.
Before Clare O'Neil and Andrew Giles were shifted out of their portfolios in Anthony Albanese's reshuffle last week, they were on the verge of announcing a new visa for Palestinians in Australia.
Now Tony Burke, who has replaced O’Neil and Giles as Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, is considering the same option. Expected to be announced in the coming days, it will provide clarity to some 1,300 Palestinians in Australia on short-term visas who are unable to return to the war-torn Gaza Strip.
“No country in the world would send people back to Gaza at the moment,” Burke told Sky News on Sunday after he had spent the past few days exploring the idea of the new visa, which could mirror those offered to Afghans and Ukrainians in recent years.
Approximately 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes since Hamas attacks on October 7, according to local health authorities. A UN report in May estimated it could take 80 years to rebuild all the homes destroyed by the assault.
