Major delay in Palestinian visa influx

Nearly 500 requests for asylum were lodged by Palestinians since June, however no applications were approved or rejected, newly released data by the department of Home Affairs revealed.

This comes as the government has been criticised for allowing Palestinians fleeing Gaza to come into Australia on visitor visas, and whether this meant consistent security checks were performed.

In August, people of Palestinian authority made up the second highest cohort of applications for onshore protection (subclass 866) visas, with a total of 166 requests made.

The visas allows people seeking asylum, and have arrived in Australia on a valid visa, to remain here permanently.

The numbers were down month-on-month, with 176 applications lodged in July, however higher than 157 applications lodged in June.

The numbers in the last three months were significantly higher than in April and May, with 66 and 119 applications were made respectively.

Despite the total of 499 requests made in the past three months, processing delays have meant no applications have been approved, or rejected since May, when less than five onshore protection visa was granted to someone of Palestinian authority.

The increase in onshore protection visas follows Israel’s attacks on Palestinian-occupied Gaza, following the October 7 attacks in which Hamas militants killed about 1200 Israelis, and captured 253 hostages.

Since the conflict, Gaza’s health ministry estimates more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.

Scrutiny of the government’s processing of Palestinian visas increased after Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) director-general Mike Burgess said having “rhetorical support” for Hamas was not grounds for a visa refusal.

He clarified supporting Palestinian statehood was different to having a “violent extremist ideology” or offering material or financial support to Hamas.

While the Coalition have not attacked Mr Burgess, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has said Australia should not grant visas to Palestinians fleeing Gaza, stating it was a risk to national security.

The government has countered the attacks by accusing the Opposition of driving division in the community, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese maintaining visitor visas were granted in line with guidelines set by ASIO, and similar to measures taken by the former Coalition government for Ukrainian refugees following Russia’s illegal invasion in 2022.

Between the October 7 to August 12, the department of Home Affairs has granted 2568 temporary visas to people of Palestinian authority, with 7111 applications rejected.

An additional 43 visas were cancelled, however 20 were later revoked.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has also previously said the government is looking for an alternate pathway for Palestinians on soon-to-expire visitor visas, however no announcements have been made.

August’s monthly update also revealed there were 224 applications from Chinese citizens, and 161 applications from Indian citizens out of a total of 2255 lodgements.