I, along with thousands of others, am horrified by the Australian Government’s recent decision to cancel visas for Palestinians fleeing the carnage in Gaza.
As the death toll in Gaza is over 31,000 and rising as a result of the continued Israeli bombardment, mass displacement, and now forced starvation on the people, nowhere is safe in Gaza. 

The Australian Government provided formal advice to the relatives of those fleeing Gaza to apply for visa subclass 600 and assured them that their loved ones would be able to come to Australia. These families invested heavily in this promise, spending thousands on visa applications, passports, astronomical fees to escape Rafah, and more. After having faced the loss of dozens of family members, the destruction of their homes, schools and hospitals, being subjected to war crimes and human rights violations, now these families are being left stranded in airports and refused boarding their flights to safety, with some facing deportation back to the ongoing genocide they have just escaped.

They were counting on the humanity of the Australian Government, to be able to find safe refuge with family members in the Australian community, and now they are suffering the ultimate injustice.

The Australian Government offered Bridging Visa E (Subclass 050), which is “designed specifically for people from significantly affected areas of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories who have arrived on a temporary visa and are unable to access standard visa pathways or return”. As the bridging visa allows eligible individuals to stay in Australia lawfully while they resolve their immigration status by obtaining a substantive visa, it is implied that the Department of Home Affairs has indeed considered that given the ongoing genocide, Palestinians might have to remain in Australia for longer than the visa subclass 600 allows. 

The plight of Palestinians is no different from that of Ukrainians or any other group seeking refuge from conflict and persecution. They are not mere numbers but individuals with faces, families, dreams, hopes - people deserving of dignity and respect. The circumstances that have lead to these Gazans fleeing their homeland was out of their control and they are simply trying to survive a genocide, which must be taken into consideration when reviewing visa applications. 

I request that the Australian government urgently reinstates cancelled visas and honour their original advice. 

In addition, refrain from cancelling any future visas of Palestinians seeking refuge with family members in Australia. 

Palestinians deserve to be treated with the same compassion they showed towards Ukrainians - recognising them as humans first before anything else. 

Please sign this petition today; let's urge our government to uphold its promises and stand up for human rights universally.