https://arab.news/pgexs
- Estimated 600-700 people in Palestinian enclave hold Australian visas
- Israel’s bordure closures have prevented exits
LONDON: Australian visa holders in Gaza remain trapped in the Palestinian enclave due to closed borders, with refugee advocates calling on the government to assist them, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said 600-700 people in Gaza hold Australian visas, though it is uncertain how many are still alive after two years of war.
Israel has continued to prevent exits from the Rafah crossing, with the exception of a small number of evacuees who can leave on medical grounds.
Burke told ABC: “Some people in that number (of 600-700) will choose to stay, some people may end up with other options that they’d prefer to take, and there will be some people who we don’t hear from again — and there’s some on that case list that we haven’t heard from for a very long time.
“A significant number of them are part of split family groups where some of the family is in fact here in Australia, and they’re wanting to join.”
Australia’s government is doing “all it can to support Australians, permanent residents and their immediate family members still in Gaza who wish to depart,” a spokesperson said, adding that it is “coordinating with governments in the region” to facilitate the departure of Australian visa holders from Gaza, but exiting the territory “remains difficult.”
Sarah Dale of the Refugee Advice and Casework Service said of the Australian visa holders in Gaza who are eligible for consular assistance, border crossings “remain perilous” and “fraught,” adding: “It has required immense strength and courage of the people fleeing in order to get out.”