Australia will allow 280 Tuvaluans to take up ‘climate asylum’ and settle in Australia to flee the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
The historic deal was signed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with his Tuvaluan counterpart, Kausea Natano in the Cook Islands yesterday.
“The government of Tuvalu initiated and submitted a request to the government of Australia for a more elevated bilateral partnership,” Mr Natano said.
“This means that we would enter a treaty that guides us to respect each other’s sovereignty, commit us to safeguard and support each other as we face the existence or threat of climate change and geostrategic challenges, to commit Australia to establish a special visa arrangement to allow people from Tuvalu to work, study and live in Australia.”
Under the agreement, a new special visa category will be set up for Tuvaluans, with about 280 issued each year.
Anthony Albanese said the visa agreement was a “groundbreaking” moment.
“The Australia-Tuvalu union will be regarded as a significant day in which Australia acknowledged that we are part of the Pacific family,” he said.
“So, with that comes the responsibility to act to a gracious request from our friends in Tuvalu and step up the relationship between our two nations.”
