The Department of Home Affairs could not confirm to Declassified Australia whether 1,318 visa holders who have not arrived in Australia from Gaza remain trapped in Gaza or even if they are alive.
The Department has confirmed that as at 31 May 2024 tourist visas had been issued to 2,438 people fleeing Gaza since 7 October 2023, but that only 1,120 of them had arrived in Australia. That means 1,318 people with valid Australian visas are yet to arrive safely in Australia.
Early in May the Israeli military seized control of the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and effectively closed it. The Rafah crossing is crucial for both incoming aid and Palestinians fleeing the carnage in Gaza.
So even those who have enough money to pay Egyptian company controlling the crossing, ‘Hala Consulting and Tourism’, the US$5,000 per person fee, for what amounts to a bribe, are now unable to flee Gaza.
Current Australian government travel advice regarding Gaza is contained on the Smart Traveller website:
‘Our ability to provide consular help in Gaza is extremely limited. If you’re in Gaza, be aware of your surroundings and review your personal security plans. Monitor local media (including social media), UN alerts, and your own organisation’s security contacts for information about changing security conditions and alerts to seek shelter. If it’s possible to leave, carefully consider the safest means.’
‘Previous attempts to break the [Israeli] naval blockade along the coast of Gaza have resulted in injury, death, arrest… Don’t join others seeking to break the naval blockade.’ – Dept Foreign Affairs & Trade
The Australian government website also refers to the actions of the Israel military in preventing people fleeing:
‘Israel has a naval blockade in place off Gaza. Previous attempts to break the naval blockade along the coast of Gaza have resulted in injury, death, arrest and the deportation of foreigners. Don’t join others seeking to break the naval blockade.’
Exiting Gaza is extremely difficult and unpredictable with only two land crossings for pedestrians into and out of Gaza. Israel controls Erez which has been closed since 7 October 2023.
Egypt controls Rafah, which has remained closed since the Israeli military seized control in early May. The advice helpfully warns about using the Rafah border crossing: ‘It has been subject to [Israeli] air strikes during the current Gaza conflict.’
The government advice concludes that:
‘You may not be able to leave Gaza even if you have a valid exit permit.’
Policy ‘in lock step’ with allies
UK travel advice is that ‘The Rafah border crossing has been closed to all civilians due to Israeli military operations in the area since 6 May. When re-opened, it is for the Egyptian and Israeli authorities to determine who is permitted to cross, and when.
If you are a British national in Gaza who wants to leave Gaza, you should make contact with us as soon as possible. There are currently no exit routes available for foreign nationals to depart Gaza as a result of the military operations, but we are working with the Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian authorities to explore alternatives.’
United States has advised its citizens that it ‘is unable to provide routine or emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Gaza as U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling there…. The pedestrian crossing between Gaza and Israel was damaged on October 7 and remains closed, and the pedestrian crossing between Egypt and Gaza has been closed since May 7 and it is unknown when it will re-open. There are sporadic telecommunication and internet outages within Gaza further inhibiting the ability of residents to obtain information.’
Canada in May announced ‘a five-fold increase in visas for Palestinians in Gaza seeking to join their family members in the country, despite the Canadian government’s inability to help applicants get out of the bombarded Palestinian enclave.’
It beggars belief that none of these countries, all ‘supporters’ of Israel – and in the case of the US its primary funder and enabler – cannot either individually or collectively get Israel to do anything to assist their citizens to safety. How hard would it be for Israel just to reopen for humanitarian purposes the Rafah Crossing, which it now controls?
All of these governments, including ours, seem to accept that Israel can do as it wishes, without regard for the interests of their imprisoned citizens and their families, so we can only revert to trying to discover the true extent of the problem.
Government is hiding the numbers
The lack of information about the precise number of Australians, foreign nationals and their immediate family members who remain trapped in Gaza prompted questions by the writer to be put to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) on 31 July 2024.
The information requested: ‘the number of Australians and their families, Australian permanent residents and their families, and long-term visa holders and their families in Gaza receiving consular support and wishing to leave Gaza; the number… registered for information only; and the number… known to be living in Gaza as at 7 October 2023.’
The Department’s reply didn’t give any numbers. It responded:
‘The Australian Government recognises that this is an incredibly distressing time for those with friends and family in Gaza.
‘The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to do all we can to support Australians and their immediate family members, including parents, still in Gaza who wish to depart but are unable to do so.’ [emphasis added].
‘The Rafah border crossing is controlled by the Egyptian and Israeli authorities, not the Australian Government. Throughout the conflict they have put tight restrictions on who can cross, and it is currently closed. While we are doing all we can the Australian Government must work within this system, as do other countries with nationals in Gaza.
‘The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is in ongoing communication with Israeli and Egyptian authorities as well as likeminded countries.
‘The Australian Government has so far supported a total of 268 Australian citizens, permanent residents and their family members, to depart Gaza.’
While it is understood that there are a number of people who have valid Australian visas but do not meet the criteria for crossing the border out of Gaza, and that an Australian visa is an entry document for Australia rather than an exit permit in the country where a holder resides, the Australian government has been reluctant to publicly give numbers or say whose criteria must be met and exactly what the criteria are.
So as it stands we do not know the actual number Australians, including foreign nationals and their immediate family members, who to DFAT’s knowledge remain in Gaza, nor do we know the actual number of people within those categories who have registered with or are otherwise ‘on the books’ with DFAT or who have otherwise sought assistance from DFAT in their removal from Gaza, even though those figures would be known to the government.
When DFAT was pressed once more by Declassified Australia for the actual number of Australians, including foreign nationals and their immediate family members who to DFAT’s knowledge remain in Gaza; and the actual number of people within those categories who have registered with or are otherwise ‘on the books’ with DFAT or who have otherwise sought assistance from DFAT in their removal from Gaza, DFAT responded:
‘We have nothing further to add to our previous response to your enquiry.’ – Dept Foreign Affairs & Trade
We are thus left to do the best we can to work out those numbers for ourselves.
DFAT documents obtained by Declassified Australia under FOI stated, that as at November 2023, when the situation was described as dire and human suffering widespread:
‘The government is doing all it can to support [redacted] Australians and their families still in Gaza who wish to depart, including providing the best available information and options for their safety and communicating through all available channels….
‘We continue to provide assistance to [redacted] in Gaza, including Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family members who have told us they want our help to depart.
‘Australia is communicating about departure options with all individuals registered with us in Gaza, however disruptions to communication, infrastructure in Gaza has made contact difficult. DFAT will continue to provide support to any individual registered with us who are unable to or do not want to leave Gaza.
‘DFAT is providing consular assistance to [redacted] Australians and their family members as a result of the conflict including [redacted] in Gaza.’
Any actual numbers of Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family in Gaza have been redacted. Presumably the numbers of those people at risk of injury or death are significant enough to threaten political consequences if publicly known – why else would the government not want us to know the numbers?
No safe sanctuary
Declassified Australia spoke with Ms Suzan Wahhab, President of the support group Palestinian Christians in Australia.
She confirmed that 200 Palestinian Christians with valid Australian visas are presently trapped inside two churches in the middle of Gaza City. About 60 percent of those trapped are children and many have medical conditions or injuries or both.
Although sheltering in the churches, their safety is far from certain. Along with mosques, the Israel military have attacked Christian churches in the Gaza Strip during its present war on Gaza. In October, Israel bombed a Christian Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City sheltering hundreds of people. The air strike killed 18 including children, and wounded many more.
In December, Israeli snipers shot dead a woman and her daughter and wounded seven more at the Catholic’s Holy Family Church in Gaza City. Israeli tanks fired rockets into the convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa, the Missionaries of Charity. This prompted a condemnation by Pope Francis who called for a ceasefire and described the Israeli attacks as ‘terrorism’.
According to Ms Wahhab there are also as many as 500 Palestinian Muslims – a large percentage being children – holding valid Australian visas who are trapped in the middle of Gaza and in the South.
Ms Wahhab met with then Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles, on 23 April 2024 in Melbourne and provided him with a printout of the database of the 200 Palestinian Christians with valid Australian visas trapped in their churches in Gaza, and needing government assistance to leave.
When Declassified Australia asked what she heard back from the then Immigration Minister, she said, “We haven’t heard from the Government.”
Even though the Labor Government has been under sustained pressure to provide humanitarian visas to those wishing to flee Gaza, the Government’s current Humanitarian Visa considerations apply only to the 1300 Palestinians already in Australia. They do not immediately apply to the people who remain in Gaza.
Life and Death in Gaza
With the ongoing bombardments, the critical shortages of food, clean water and medical and other supplies, the rising tide of disease and the lack of health facilities, what is the fate of those left behind?
- Over 39,000 residents have been killed so far, the majority women and children. Many times that number have been injured.
- 1.9 million people have been displaced (9 in 10 people).
- Aerial, land and maritime bombardment across the Gaza Strip is continuous.
- Lack of food and clean water have created an additional humanitarian crisis.
- Solid waste management has collapsed.
- Disease, mostly preventable, is rife.
- 31 out of 36 hospitals have been damaged or destroyed.
- Two-thirds of Gaza buildings have been damaged or destroyed
- 80% of Gaza has been placed under evacuation orders or designated no-go zones by Israeli forces.
- 80% of schools have been destroyed or damaged.
- Every university in Gaza has been obliterated.
- The ILO has reported that the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip has reached 79.1 per cent.
On this background of the urgency and extent of the need, the Department of Home Affairs revealed to the Senate that 4,916 visas had been refused in large part due to an inability to prove an intention to return to Gaza.
A family by definition
Before December 2023, family members could sponsor, apply and almost immediately be granted tourist visas for family members fleeing Gaza, according to Ms Wahhab.
However in December the government moved to strictly enforce the definition of ‘immediate family’ that includes only a spouse/defacto or underage child but excludes siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
The DFAT online ‘crisis portal’ currently defines immediate family members as a partner of an Australian citizen or permanent resident; minor children and parents of Australian minors; and parents of Australians (only for those parents currently in Gaza).
We are not able to be told by DFAT how many people in Gaza have had Australian tourist visas approved only to see them expire after 3 or 6 months because the holders were prevented from fleeing the country while their visas were current, necessitating reapplication.
Nor can the public be told how many valid Australian visa holders have died because they have been unable to flee Gaza.
Senator David Shoebridge, Greens Spokesperson for Immigration, told Declassified Australia:
‘When there is conflict and violence there is an expectation that the Government will protect its citizens and be open about the dangers they face. In Gaza right now there are hundreds of trapped people who have been offered protection by Australia but who have been unable to escape the genocide.
‘The humanitarian response to people fleeing the genocide in Gaza has been an unmitigated failure by the Albanese Government. Part of the issue is that the Government continues to offer only tourist visas to people who are not tourists but asylum seekers.’
‘Under the Labor government, Palestinians are having their visas refused, with Home Affairs saying they are not genuine tourists, when they honestly say they don’t want to return to a genocide. This is a deliberate bureaucratic cruelty.
“If the Albanese government’s friendship with the Netanyahu government has any useful purpose at least it could be used to allow the evacuation of Australian visa holders.”
While the Government may be under no specific constitutional or legislative obligations to act, the Australian public would undoubtably expect it to act on moral, ethical and humanitarian bases.
As a matter of common humanity, it is simply unacceptable for any government to cravenly defer to Israel’s vindictive pogrom against the Palestinian people.
This should be so, given what is happening on the ground, the widely available direct evidence of the personal agonies of the residents, and the wholesale physical destruction of their living space and essential infrastructure – in addition to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) finding of a plausible risk of irreversible harm in the genocide case against Israel, and the latest ICJ ruling that the Israeli occupation of Gaza has been and is entirely illegal.
As a matter of common humanity, it is simply unacceptable for any government to cravenly defer to Israel’s vindictive pogrom against the Palestinian people. This is abundantly clear from the worldwide popular outrage, with huge numbers of protesters including several Jewish organisations and many Jewish people.
The Australian Government could at the very least exert real pressure on Israel to permit current Australian visa or passport holders to be safely transported out of Gaza immediately.
It has been provided with the database of Palestinian Christian visa holders and knows of their actual locations. Other community support organisations in Australia undoubtedly could immediately supply the Government with similar lists of the other visa holders and details of their whereabouts.
Equally, and just as importantly, it must also immediately permit all Gazans to apply for humanitarian rather than tourist visas. If what is taking place before our eyes in Gaza is not a humanitarian crisis, nothing is.
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