750 Palestinians ‘have applied for asylum’

At least 749 Palestinians have applied for protection visas since arriving in Australia following the outbreak of the Middle East conflict on October 7, with more than 300 applications in June and July.

Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan.

More than 300 Palestinians have claimed asylum in Australia in a two-month period, with at least 749 having applied for protection visas since the Middle East conflict erupted on October 7 when ­Israel was attacked by the Hamas terror group.

The Albanese government has come under pressure to explain whether it has allowed supporters of Hamas in to Australia after granting 2922 visas to people from Gaza and the West Bank since the conflict began.

Of those, only about 1300 Palestinians have been in a position to leave the Middle East and make their way to Australia. The latest figures from the department suggest that of the 1300 who have ­arrived in the country, more than half have lodged applications for protection visas.

During the last sitting of parliament, Peter Dutton called for a temporary ban on visas for those seeking to come to Australia from the Middle East war zone until stronger security checks and vetting could be put in place.

Labor responded by accusing the Opposition Leader of sowing social division, with Anthony Albanese arguing that Mr Dutton had promoted “division his entire political career”.

Seizing on the figures from Home Affairs on Monday, opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said 47,224 asylum-seekers had arrived by plane since the election of the Labor government in 2022 – the equivalent of 271 full Boeing 737s.

The latest numbers from the department show 2236 asylum claims were made in July.

In terms of asylum claims, Palestine became one of the top 20 source locations only in January when 33 applications were lodged for protection visas. This was followed by 88 in February; 110 in March; 66 in April; 119 in May; 157 in June and 176 in July. This amounts to 749.

In July, only China produced more asylum-seekers with 261 claims.

“Any competent government should have anticipated people fleeing a terrorist-controlled war zone would seek asylum in Australia,” Mr Tehan said.

“The asylum-seeker process can take up to 10 years to reach its legal conclusion, so what assurances can Labor provide to the Australian people that all Palestinians who arrived on tourist visas and claim asylum have been through the proper security checks?”

Labor frontbencher Jason Clare last week told Sky News he did not think “anybody that’s coming (to Australia) has any sympathy for Hamas”.

He said those coming from Gaza and the West Bank were people who had had their homes blown up and their families killed. “They’re coming here … trying to rebuild their lives,” he said.

The Prime Minister was unable to provide a similar assurance to parliament the previous week, dodging questions on whether the government’s policy allowed for the issuing of visas to Hamas supporters. He twice refused to say whether backers of the terror group would be disqualified from entry under the character test.

Security experts including Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Justin Bassi and former ASIO head Dennis Richardson have both argued that people seeking entry to Australia with sympathies for Hamas should be rejected.

The government has also faced criticism from the Greens and the teal independents for not creating a special humanitarian visa pathway for those fleeing the Middle East conflict.