Concern over Gaza visas
Australia towers above other "Five Eyes" nations and comparable countries in Gazan visa approvals.
“Intense community concerns” have been voiced by Jewish leaders over public safety relating to the approval of visas for Gazans.
Figures showed Australia tracking well above other Western countries in admitting Gazans. The vetting process has been queried, with 43 Gazan visas cancelled on security grounds. (Twenty were reinstated on appeal.)
Coalition immigration spokesperson Dan Tehan urged the Albanese government to conduct “a rigorous vetting process on all people coming to Australia from a war zone controlled by a terrorist organisation”.
Calling the Opposition’s stance “irresponsible”, Immigration Minister Tony Burke said, “If at any point in time we’re presented with information that had grounds for visa cancellation, we would cancel.”
The government has been accused of insufficient vetting and criticised for its use of tourist visas to fast-track Gazans.
Australia towers above other “Five Eyes” nations and comparable countries in Gazan visa approvals. Opposition data indicates Australia has admitted almost 3000 Gazans since the October 7 Hamas attacks, compared to numbers in the low hundreds by other countries, and only 17 Palestinian refugees admitted by the US as of the end of July.
Concerns mounted after ASIO director-general Mike Burgess raised the national terror threat level from “possible” to “probable”. His August 11 interview on ABC-TV’s Insiders raised eyebrows when he said “rhetorical support” for Hamas was acceptable for entry.
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein rejected the idea. “It seems obvious that any support for a listed, proscribed terrorist organisation in this country – including rhetorical – should be strong grounds for failing the character test essential for Australian citizenship or residency,” he told media.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin told The AJN, “There are intense community concerns about what the arrival of thousands of people who have lived under absolute Hamas rule for nearly two decades will mean for national security and social cohesion.
“The fact that civilians participated in the October 7 atrocities, thousands more celebrated in the streets and some even held hostages in their homes, coupled with polling showing overwhelming support for Hamas, necessitates extreme caution in processing applications.
“The issue is not about Arab migration, or even Palestinian migration. It is about migration from a territory turned into an antisemitic terror enclave by Hamas and its many willing collaborators. Australians are entirely justified in their concerns.”
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