The Albanian government's new temporary humanitarian visa pathway for Palestinians fleeing the conflict in Gaza is a welcome first step, advocates say, but they warn that the option to stay for three years is not enough for those without a home at all. to return.
Rasha Abbas, founder of charity group Palestine Australia Reduction and Motion, said community members had been socially, financially and emotionally supporting traumatized new arrivals who had been denied access to healthcare, housing or labor rights during the last 11 months.
Meanwhile, Greens senator David Shoebridge said delays in launching the humanitarian track in response to Gaza showed Labor had been “dragged into treating people with basic dignity”.
The Inside Department quietly published details about its temporary humanitarian stay visas last Thursday, which offer Palestinian newcomers the chance of a three-year visa with access to Medicare, benefit payments, and work and study rights.
More than 1,300 Palestinians have arrived in Australia on visitor visas since the conflict began on October 7, 2023.
Some 1,200 people were killed in Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7, and another 251 were taken hostage. According to Palestinian health authorities, more than 42,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7.
Department of Home Affairs figures show 1,033 PA people have already applied for protection in Australia since October 2023.
The newly launched temporary humanitarian visa is only available by invitation from Inside Minister Tony Burke or any delegate, but those affected by the conflict can complete an expression of interest form to be considered.
The two-step process would allow a person to initially be granted a subclass 449 humanitarian stay (temporary) visa, a visa that does not grant access to Medicare. People would then be offered a subclass 786 temporary (humanitarian concern) visa, which is valid for three years.
Abbas said it was a good first step and was in line with what Ukrainians fleeing Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 were offered within months of arriving in the country.
With the three-year period soon to end for some Ukrainian visa holders, the Australian government has begun offering some an offer of permanent stay in Australia.
“We hope that the Palestinians follow a comparable path [to Ukrainians]Abbas said.
“These families have nowhere to go. “They can't go back to Gaza, so we better continue to recognize that and start moving them toward a more permanent solution.”
The department's information page for the temporary humanitarian stay visa warned that “individuals who are offered a temporary humanitarian stay cannot meet the criteria and receive a protection visa, regardless of whether they have already submitted an application.” .
Sarah Dale, director of the Refugee Case and Support Service, said the centre's decades of experience showed that “people need a permanent solution to be truly safe”.
“We are all witnesses to the terror and colossal humanitarian disaster in Gaza,” Dale said.
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“The Australian government must also recognize this as a refugee crisis and do everything it can to support displaced communities.
“In response to protection needs, our policies must stop resorting to temporary measures, which endanger the resilience of refugees. “People who are recognized as needing Australia’s protection should be given permanent protection.”
It is understood that the federal government is not ruling out the possibility of offering permanent visas to Palestinians once the three-year period expires.
But Shoebridge said that without guarantees, the measure amounted to another version of temporary protection visas, despite Labor opposition to the Abbott-era policy.
“If it is determined that someone is owed protection, then international humanitarian law says they should have permanent protection, not temporary protection,” Shoebridge said.
“People should not be forced to pay a horrible ransom by the Albanian government, where they have to choose between the ability to survive for the next three years and their claim for permanent protection.”
Abbas said many of the families he worked with had little experience with bureaucratic systems, such as Australia's visa system, and that the uncertainty of a temporary humanitarian visa would make their recovery difficult.
“One thing, as a backdrop, is to understand that they come from a military occupation system, and that there is no democracy, there is no visa system. “This whole concept is really new,” he said.
“It's difficult for those traumatized families in terms of uncertainty. “They are partly relieved by the support they will begin to receive, but at the same time they hope that the government will truly recognize the pain they have been through.”
Burke's office was contacted for comment.
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