Incompetence or cruelty is being blamed for Australia’s visa process which is blocking Palestinians fleeing war-torn Gaza.
Large-scale visa rejections for Palestinians who were not found to be genuine tourists after being told to apply for that visa class showed “the system is either highly dysfunctional or deliberately cruel,” Amnesty International Australia said.
About 7000 visa applications have been refused while 2900 have been granted since the war in Gaza began.
With the death toll in the tens of thousands and children facing the otherwise eradicated disease of polio, Australians are being asked to remember the human cost of war as debate rages over security checks.
The coalition called for a temporary halt to people from Gaza entering Australia, arguing they posed a security risk coming from a war zone where a designated terrorist organisation was in charge.
It pointed to face-to-face interviews and biometric tests being forgone as a reason why adequate security checks were not being done.
But that was similar to other crises and every Gazan was subject to some form of security screening, Amnesty Australia spokesman Mohamed Duar said.
“Australia has a rich and proud history of rising to the occasion to support people who are fleeing conflict, war and other such crises,” he told AAP.
“The Palestinian community in Australia is simply asking the Australian government to do the same in this scenario.”
Palestinians go through multiple security checks by Israel, Egypt and Australia meaning the coalition’s comments about security concerns were incorrect, Palestine Australia Relief and Action executive director Rasha Abbas said.
“The comments make us feel hurt, unwanted,” she told AAP.
“We’re proud Australians, these are our families and that type of language is really what causes harm for our society as opposed to those poor Palestinians who are coming in here.”
The resurgence of the otherwise eliminated polio disease from squalid living conditions and lack of healthcare and aid in Gaza painted a dire picture for those in the war-torn strip, Doctors Without Borders’ Arrun Jegan said.
“The population is suffering to a level I haven’t seen in other contexts,” he told AAP.
“The Palestinian people are living in extreme fear for their lives, we’ve seen upwards of 39,000 civilians being killed, this is no real life any one of us would want our family or neighbours to live through.”
Humanitarian workers had to go through strict checks by Israel and could only operate within designated safe zones under the direction of its military, he said.
“Everything has to be done with Israel’s permission,” he said.
“We’re relegated to providing healthcare in tents.”
The federal government has defended the security check process and the role of intelligence agencies, saying they were the same in place under the former coalition government for other conflicts such as Afghanistan and Ukraine.
The coalition had seized on comments from intelligence agency ASIO chief Mike Burgess that support for Hamas was not an instant disqualifying factor for a security check if they were only supportive of a Palestinian homeland.
But any support for violent extremism would always trigger an adverse security assessment by ASIO, the director-general said.
The opposition used the former comments to accuse the government of allowing in terrorist sympathisers, leading to Mr Burgess to come out saying his words about the vetting process had been misrepresented.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese scolded the coalition for undermining ASIO, something Opposition Leader Peter Dutton denied as he accused the government of putting the chief in a difficult position by granting visas.
