Burke to sign off on every Gazan refugee granted new humanitarian visa

Gazan refugees must be personally invited by Immigration Minister Tony Burke to apply for a three-year visa to stay in the country under Labor’s pathway for Palestinians fleeing the war, which does not yet offer an option for permanent residency.

The Albanese government will shun an approach that automatically offers temporary humanitarian visas to the whole cohort – estimated to be about 1500 people onshore – and will instead issue visas on a case-by-case basis.

The Department of Home Affairs quietly opened expressions of interest for Palestinians late last week, but the minister made no formal announcement as Labor again faced Coalition attacks in question time over security screenings for refugees from Gaza.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke will have to sign off on every Gazan refugee allowed to stay in Australia on a temporary humanitarian visa.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The online form will allow hundreds of Palestinians to register interest in staying in Australia, but Burke will be responsible for inviting them to apply for a three-year visa. This could provide a pathway to a permanent visa as they come to the end of their humanitarian visa.

The federal government’s plans are less generous than the Coalition’s approach to Ukrainian refugees, who were all offered three-year humanitarian visas by former immigration minister Alex Hawke.

They were later offered permanent visas under Labor on a case-by-case basis.

Home Affairs said individuals affected by the Middle East conflict must meet all health, character and security criteria to be granted temporary humanitarian visas. They must be Palestinians or Israelis in Australia on other temporary visas and unable to return home.

It said people should complete a form for each person in the family. The department would refer eligible cases to the minister, and Burke would then decide whether to invite them to apply for a visa.

If they accepted, they would be assessed against the visa criteria, pay for mandatory health checks and provide biometric information if it was not already held by the department.

Successful visa holders would receive special benefit payments and work and study rights, and those who transitioned to the full three-year visa would also have access to Medicare.

More than 900 people with Palestinian documents who had applied for asylum since arriving in Australia would have to withdraw that application to be eligible for the new pathway.

Two weeks ago, Burke said 12 families had been transferred onto short-term humanitarian visas.

“At the moment, what we’re doing is we’re going case by case,” he said. “They don’t all have to be personal meetings with me, but so far, they have been, and I’ll tell you, there’s been some extraordinary people I’ve met.”

The Palestine Australia Relief and Action group welcomed the government’s decision to launch a humanitarian pathway but said a route to permanency was essential.

“The ongoing uncertainty of visa status has a huge impact on the wellbeing of refugees, who are an already traumatised and vulnerable group of people,” it said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, the temporary humanitarian visa does not give access to tertiary education, which Palestinians highly value.”

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