Together with Newcastle Mums for Palestine, Perth Mums for Palestine, and Mums for Palestine Meanjin, Families for Palestine release the following statement:

We are horrified by the Australian Government’s decision to cancel visas for Palestinian families fleeing the atrocities in Gaza and seeking safety.

As the death toll in Gaza is over 31,000 people, and while the genocide of Palestinian people and the bombardment of Gaza by Israel continues, nowhere is safe in Gaza.

The Australian Government provided formal advice to the families of those fleeing Gaza to apply for visa subclass 600 and assured them that their families would be able to come to Australia. These families have paid thousands of dollars on visa applications, and other fees to get out of Gaza.

These families are now being told that they do not meet the requirements for the visa, as they are not intending to stay temporarily, resulting in the visas being cancelled.

Palestinian families fleeing the genocide being perpetrated by Israel have had everything destroyed, many losing dozens of family members, along with their homes, and have close to nothing left. They have been starved, displaced multiple times, subjected to war crimes and human rights violations.

These people who have managed to escape (after spending many thousands of US dollars), do not have anywhere else to go now. They were counting on the humanity of the Australian Government, on being able to find refuge with family members in the Australian community, and now they are suffering the ultimate injustice. This could be illegal following the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, the Australian community rightly stepped up, welcoming Ukrainian refugees to Australia. 11,500 Ukrainians have been able to come to Australia and apply for a humanitarian visa to stay.

We call on the Australian Government to immediately reinstate visas issued to families fleeing the atrocities in Gaza, cease cancelling the ones already granted and to offer a humanitarian visa to those who arrive in Australia.

The Australian Government has done far too little to date to pressure Israel to uphold international law and respect the most basic of human rights. With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continuing to worsen, Australia has a responsibility to provide more support to Palestinian families trying to escape.