860 visas for Palestinians with Australian connections
Between October 7 and November 20, the Department of Home Affairs approved 860 visas for Palestinians with connections to Australia, according to reports from the ABC.
Dr Colin Rubenstein
It is unclear how many of those visa holders are in Gaza, Israel or the West Bank, but with the Australian government having repatriated a total 127 – including citizens and permanent residents – from Gaza, many likely remain in the conflict zone.
The government has also issued 1,793 visas to Israeli citizens.
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan criticised the government for not broadly releasing the visa information.
“The government needs to come out, be transparent and let us know what processes have been undertaken, on what basis the visa has been granted and what security checks are being undertaken,” he told Sky on Wednesday.
” All we’re learning is via the media and we need transparency.”
Senator Wong said those who had obtained Australian visas were subject to appropriate security checks.
“These people have been subjected to the same security checks by the Australian Border Force and authorities as you would expect any visa applicant would be required to make.”
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein said: “Australia has a long tradition of providing temporary visas and other similar visas and that should continue especially for civilians at risk, but the community needs to be assured that thorough and proper security and safety checks will be undertaken regardless of their origin; that is a basic principle of a robust and viable immigration system.
“The community will want to know who is selecting the candidates for the visas and who is doing the security screening.
“Given that Gaza is a territory whose governing authority is a murderous, listed terrorist organisation in Australia, detailed scrutiny would seem to be required to ensure Hamas activists and supporters – or even worse, Hamas terrorists – are not inadvertently admitted into Australia.”
AAP/J-Wire
Yes, who is selecting the candidates for visas and who is doing the screening? Important questions under the circumstances.
Why don’t other Arab countries take them?
Awesome news! we definitely need more ‘from the river to the sea…’ emonstrations and hate speech ( as well as hands on acts) against jews and Israel! Thanks Albo and Penny !