Australia rejects most visa applications from Palestinians fleeing Gaza.
The air and ground operation has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry. After the Palestinian terror group Hamas carried out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel responded with a devastating military campaign in Gaza.
As a result, the number of Palestinians fleeing to other countries seeking asylum, including Australia, has increased. But there is a stark disparity in Australia when it comes to visa approval statistics; most Palestinian applications are rejected, but a disproportionately high number of Israeli visas are approved.
According to News Corp Australia, Home Secretary Tony Burke has confirmed that of the 10,033 applications lodged in the past 10 months, 7,111 have been rejected, while 2,922 Palestinians have been granted entry to Australia. Of the 2,922, around 1,300 are refugees settled in Australia, believed to be largely on short-term visas.
Meanwhile, 8,746 Israeli citizens have been granted visas since the October 7 attacks, while 235 applications have been rejected.
The report was released alongside opposition leader Peter Dutton's call to block Palestinians from Gaza, saying they pose a threat to national security.
“I don't think people should be coming out of that war zone at this time,” Dutton said Wednesday. “It's not wise to do that and I think it jeopardizes our national security.”
His comments came in response to what happened on Tuesday, when Coalition MPs wrote to Tony Burke urging him to tighten the process for assessing visa applications from Gaza to ensure they did not support Hamas. As it stands, applicants are only rejected if they are found to have given financial or material support to Hamas.