Independent Senator David Pocock has called on the new Immigration Minister to announce the granting of humanitarian visas to people fleeing Gaza as “an act of real leadership”.
According to the Australian Capital Territory senator, more than 7,000 humanitarian visas were offered to people fleeing Afghanistan when the Taliban took over, and evacuations were organised within a month.
He said there was no limit to the number of humanitarian visas Ukrainians could obtain if they were able to travel to Australia.
“But so far there has been no offer made to people fleeing Gaza,” Senator Pocock told AAP after Tony Burke was sworn into his new portfolio on Monday.
The Refugee Council and Amnesty International have expressed concern about the large number of Palestinians attempting to flee Gaza and their visa applications being rejected, as well as a shortage of humanitarian visas in recent months.
Despite thousands of visas being issued to Palestinians since Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, the humanitarian visa has not been opened to them and they have been told to apply for a visitor visa, ministry officials said in February.
“People feel that the government treats Palestinian lives as if they are less valuable than Ukrainian or Afghan lives, and that puts enormous pressure on social cohesion,” Pocock said.
“Australians want our government to do more to help people fleeing the horrors of events in Gaza.”
Ghaith Krayem, spokesperson for Muslim Votes Matters, said visa procedures “should not depend on the position of a single politician” given the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“The real focus on Tony Burke among his constituents comes from the government’s appalling response to the killing and maiming of some 130,000 Palestinians over the past 10 months,” he told AAP.
It is a response to pressure from the Labor (NSW) and ACT branches on the federal government to recognise a Palestinian state, passing motions to that effect at their respective conferences.
There has been anger in Burke’s Western Sydney electorate for Watson, particularly in the Middle Eastern and Muslim communities, over the perceived lack of government action on Gaza and recognition of the Palestinians.
“I’ve lived in my community all my life. I love my community and the community knows who I am,” he told ABC radio when asked about balancing the political discourse between cracking down on national security and further action against Palestine.