Tuvalu Residents Granted Climate Asylum in Australia: Historic Agreement and Preservation Efforts

Nov 10, 2023 at 7:03 AM Update: an hour ago

Residents of Tuvalu get rare ‘climate asylum’ in Australia. The Pacific archipelago is seriously threatened by climate change. All 11,200 residents are allowed to live, work and study in Australia.

The agreement that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese concluded on Friday is a rarity. Australia has a strict asylum policy; Special visas are also required if you want to go on holiday or work or study temporarily.

Tuvalu consists of nine low-lying islands between Australia and Hawaii. It is one of the countries most at risk of serious impacts from climate change.

Under the agreement, Australia admits 280 Tuvaluans annually. That amounts to 2.5 percent of the population. Ultimately, everyone is welcome. If climate change makes the country uninhabitable, the entire population will be given shelter, Albanese announced.

After the signing of the treaty, Tuvaluans have not yet applied for asylum in Australia en masse.

Tuvalu wants to preserve culture with a digital version of itself

Australia will also release money for land expansion in Tuvalu. This should make the capital Funafuti 6 percent larger. The agreement also includes agreements on better protection of residents.

Tuvalu has been fighting for years to make climate change mandatory. During the COP-27 climate summit, Foreign Minister Simon Kofe announced that the country wants to build a digital version of itself. In this way, the history and culture of the archipelago must be preserved.

Beeld: Getty Images

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2023-11-10 06:03:39
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