“Should have never happened”: Visa cancellations for Palestinians fleeing Gaza reversed

The Australian Government is facing fierce criticism over its handling of visa applications for Palestinians trying to escape the war zone.

Several Palestinians last week said that they were left stranded after being granted Australian visas, escaping Gaza, and arriving at Cairo airport, only to have their visas cancelled.

On Sunday, the federal government said some of the visa cancellations had been reversed after completing more security checks.

Though the move has come as a huge relief to concerned family members, many are saying the cancellations never should have happened.

Greens MP Jenny Leong said, “The visa cancellations of Palestinians fleeing Gaza should never have happened in the first place.”

“We must keep the pressure on the Government, and stand in solidarity with our Palestinian communities.”

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, over 31,000 Palestinians have died from Israel’s retaliations.

According to figures from Home Affairs officials last month, over 2000 visitor visas had been issued to Palestinians since then. But only 334 people have arrived in Australia since October.

The subclass 600 visitor visa allows for temporary entry to Australia for up to 12 months.

“An emergency situation” 

Suzan Wahhab, President of Palestinian Christians in Australia (PCiA), has been aiding Palestinians in their travels to Australia.

“It’s become an emergency situation,” Ms Wahhab said to City Hub. 

Several people have had their visas cancelled while in transit to Australia.

The Home Affairs Department has been telling rejected applicants that their visas have been cancelled because it believes they may wish to stay in Australia longer than allowed.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton criticised the government for its handling of the situation, saying “I think it’s almost without precedent that somebody who’s midair would have their visa cancelled, and be asked to turn around.”

“The circumstances here, I think, are pretty dire.”

But he repeated past warnings that the government should be extremely cautious when it comes to accepting visa applications from Gaza.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, or in our country’s best interest for people to be brought out of a war zone into our country when we don’t have certainty around travel documents, or identity, around affiliation, sympathies,” he said.

Speaking to City Hub, Ms Wahhab said, “We’re not terrorists like Dutton implies.”

“The people I’m helping are engineers, doctors, professors. They’ve lost everything. And they are still sitting in a church, waiting for their visa,” she said.

“They keep dehumanising us.”

One Palestinian woman living in Australia (who wishes to remain anonymous) spoke to City Hub. Most of her family is in Gaza.

She confirmed that her children and their families are still waiting in a church in North Gaza.

“I don’t understand why this is happening,” she said. “They are cancelling visas for immediate family.”

“I just hope I can see my family again.”

“A lack of humanity”

The decision to cancel the visas in the first place was met with extreme backlash.

Greens Senator Nick McKim accused the Labor government of making itself complicit in the Gaza crisis “by facilitating the export of military hardware to Israel and cutting funding to UNRWA.”

“To cancel visas for those fleeing such horrendous conditions shows a lack of humanity and causes unnecessary further suffering,” he said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced last week that the government would unfreeze funding to UNRWA amid concerns of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

But Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens, said the funding was “inexcusably cut off” while children were “being starved in the ruins of Gaza and dying of malnutrition”.

In an open letter to the Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil, President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) Lydia Shelly urged for clarity on visa cancellations, saying in times like these, Palestinians need certainty more than ever.

“People who are fleeing the occupation, violence and starvation in Palestine have faced extraordinary trauma,” she said.

“It is inhumane to add this intolerable burden to desperate people escaping the horrendous conditions in their homeland. These people need certainty,” she continued.