Tony Burke to sign off on every Gazan refugee granted new humanitarian visa

Gazan refugees must be personally invited by Immigration Minister Tony Burke to apply for a three-year visa to stay in the country under Labor’s pathway for Palestinians fleeing the war, which will not give them an option for permanent residency.

The Albanese government will shun an approach that automatically offers temporary humanitarian visas to the whole cohort – estimated to be about 1500 people onshore – and will instead issue visas on a case-by-case basis.

The Department of Home Affairs quietly opened expressions of interest for Palestinians late last week, but the minister made no formal announcement as Labor again faced Coalition attacks in question time over security screenings for refugees from Gaza.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke will have to sign off on every Gazan refugee allowed to stay in Australia on a temporary humanitarian visa.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The online form will allow hundreds of Palestinians to register interest in staying in Australia, but Burke will be responsible for inviting them to apply for a three-year visa. Those who accept will not be able to apply for permanent protection visas.

The federal government’s plans are less generous than the Coalition’s approach to Ukrainian refugees, who were offered three-year humanitarian visas by former immigration minister Alex Hawke, and then permanent visas on a case-by-case basis.

Home Affairs said individuals affected by the Middle East conflict must meet all health, character and security criteria to be granted temporary humanitarian visas. They must be Palestinians or Israelis in Australia on other temporary visas and unable to return home.

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It said people should complete a form for each person in the family. The department would refer eligible cases to the minister, and Burke would then decide whether to invite them to apply for a visa.

If they accepted, they would be assessed against the visa criteria, pay for mandatory health checks and provide biometric information if it was not already held by the department.

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