The Home Affairs Minister of Australia, Tony Burke, has confirmed that the country has rejected almost 71 percent of visa applications filed by Palestinians in the past ten months.
According to the Minister, during this ten-month period, the country received a total of 10,033 visa applications.
However, despite the current situation in Palestine, only 2,922 of them were granted a visa, while 7,111 had their application rejected, VisaGuide.World reports.
On the other hand, since October 7, 2023, a total of 8,746 Israelis have been granted a visa by Australia, with only 235 of them having their applications rejected, raising discrimination concerns among non-governmental organizations.
Even though the number of Palestinians who have been provided with visas is low, the Australian Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton, just recently called to ban visas for this nationality completely.
A few days ago, Dutton said that issuing visas to Palestinians is putting Australia’s national security at risk and, at the same time, stressed that people should not be coming in from the war zone at all at the moment.
Amnesty International Condemns Australia for Not Issuing More Visas for Palestinians
Australia’s decision to refuse visas to such a large number of Palestinians has raised concerns among NGOs supporting human rights, more specifically, Amnesty International.
Amnesty International has required that the Australian government immediately extend measures under its humanitarian program to Palestinians fleeing Gaza.
Moreover, the organization urged for a fair and compassionate visa response for this group of people.
Amnesty International Australia urges the Australian government to immediately extend similar measures to Palestinians fleeing Gaza. This includes establishing a fair and compassionate visa process and ensuring access to essential settlement support services.
Commenting on the matter, the Occupied Palestinian Territories Spokesperson at Amnesty International Australia, Mohamed Duar, said that Australia had shown a strong commitment to providing generous humanitarian settlement services for Ukraine and Afghanistan, suggesting that the country should do the same for Palestine, too.
Moreover, he highlighted that the visa rules are not fair for Palestinians and that checks have become stringent for them.
All visa applicants are subjected to stringent security checks, a process that is inherently inadequate and unfair. These checks have become a barrier to those in desperate need of safety, further limiting the already inadequate response to the humanitarian crisis.
Duar further said that the portrayal of Palestinians in the media is misleading and that Australia has a duty to protect civilians and also provide humanitarian pathways to those who are fleeing to safety.