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Over a third of the population wants to move in this country
Over a third of the Tuvalu population has applied to move to Australia to escape the increase in sea level. An innovative visa system offers new opportunities.
Over a third of the population wants to move in this country
In Australia, more than a third of the population of Tuvalu, a small islands in the Pacific, have applied to move to Australia. This is done as part of a unique visa program to help people escape the rising sea level. According to the latest government statistics, the population of around 10,000 people lives on a group of tiny islands and atllen between Hawaii and Australia.
threat from climate change
With no part of its territory over six meters above sea level, Tuvalu is one of the most endangered places in the world due to the climate change caused by climate change. On June 16, Australia opened an application window for about a month to "offer a unique visa that was necessary through climate change." As part of the new scheme, Australia will accept 280 Visa winners from a random draw between July 2023 and January 2026. When they arrive in Australia, the Tuvaluans receive a permanent residence permit that enables them to work and access to public health care and education.
high demand for Visa
So far, more than 4,000 people have made an application as part of this program, as official figures show. "The opening of the Falepili Mobility Pathway fulfills our joint vision for mobility by giving Tuvaluanians the opportunity to live, study and work in Australia, while the effects of climate change increase," said Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in a message.expected inundations
According to the Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo, more than half of Tuvalu will regularly be affected by tidal overflowing by 2050. Up to 2100, 90 % of his nation will probably be under water. Fongafale, the capital, is the largest and most populous island in the main act of Tuvalus, Funafuti, and has a ruralway -like area of only 20 meters wide in some places.
impossibility of internal resettlement
"You can put yourself in my situation as Prime Minister of Tuvalu, while I am thinking about the development and services for the basic needs of our people and at the same time confronted with a very confronted and disturbing prediction," said Teo at the UN-Ozancer conference in Nice, France. "An internal relocation in Tuvalu is not an option, we are completely flat. There is no way to move to the interior or in higher areas because there are no higher areas."
comprehensive support from Australia
The visa program is part of a more comprehensive agreement that was signed between Australia and Tuvalu in 2023. This agreement obliges Australia to protect Tuvalu both militarily and against the increase in sea level. Australia recognizes the sovereignty of Tuvalus, even if the islands should become uninhabitable in the future. "The status and sovereignty of Tuvalu will remain, and the associated rights and obligations will be preserved on the sea level despite the effects of climate change," says their contract.
digital sovereignty tuvalus
in 2022, Tuvalu announced on the COP27 in Sharm El-Heikh, Egypt, to become the first nation in the world that is completely online. Since then, the government has developed a plan to digitally reproduce its country, to archive its rich history and culture and to shift all government functions into a digital space. Australia now recognizes the "digital sovereignty" of Tuvalus, which is intended to help the country to preserve its identity and continue to act as a state, even if the physical country is lost.
partnership in the Pacific
The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last year that his country shares a vision for a "peaceful, stable, wealthy and united region". "It shows our Pacific partners that they can rely on Australia as a trustworthy and real partner." The support of Australia for the Pacific island is in the most blatant contrast to the current US government, which enforces comprehensive measures against climate policy and immigration.
TUVALU belongs to a group of 36 countries that are to be included in the list of travel restrictions by the Trump administration. This travel limitation has fully restricted entry for nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Myanmar and Iran, while seven other countries were partially imposed. The 36 countries, including Tuvalus Pacific neighbor Tonga and Vanuatu, were asked to commit themselves to improve the review of travelers and take measures to address the status of their nationals who are illegal in the USA.