Palestinian community members report their relatives who had been advised to apply for, and had been issued, temporary Australian visas (subclass 600) had managed to flee Gaza, only to have their visas cancelled while they were mid-flight.
This abrupt cancellation has not only compounded the emotional trauma of families that are fleeing Israel’s daily bombardments, starvation and terrorism in Gaza, but also the financial stress resulting from this genocide and families’ desperate attempts to afford visas and flights.
The decision has also forced Palestinian families to make the impossible decision as to whether to send children, unaccompanied, on flights to Australia, or to remain together but stranded at the airports of third countries, without support, resources, certainty or hope for onward passage.
The APAN in a media release has urged the Australian Government to urgently review its visa allocation process to ensure fleeing Palestinians find safety in Australia, and to immediately reverse the decision to cancel their visas who were enroute to Australia.
APAN President Nasser Mashni said, “The inhumanity of the decision to rob Palestinian families of their visas, even as they are in the process of fleeing genocide in Gaza and seeking safety in Australia, is just staggering.
Particularly cruel and hypocritical is that the government seems to be saying these visas should be cancelled for the very same reason they have been offered in the first place, that being the unbearable nature of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
