Latest news with #Funafuti
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Tiny Pacific nations fear US travel bans. Why?
Tuvalu , a tiny Pacific nation that scientists predict will be submerged by rising seas, said it was seeking written assurance from the United States that its citizens would not be barred from entry after being apparently mistakenly included in a list of 36 countries facing visa bans. An internal diplomatic cable signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio showed the United States, which has already barred entry for citizens from 12 countries, was considering expanding travel restrictions to the 36 countries, including three Pacific island states, it was reported last month Nations on the list would have 60 days to take corrective action, the cable showed. The news had caused significant concern in Tuvalu, whose population of around 11,000 is at risk from rising sea levels, and where a third of residents have applied to an Australian ballot for a landmark climate migration visa The serpentine coastline of Funafuti Atoll, home to nearly half of Tuvalu's entire population. Photo: AFP Tuvalu's ambassador to the United Nations , Tapugao Falefou, said he had been told by a US official that Tuvalu's inclusion on the list was 'an administrative and systemic error on the part of the US Department of State'. In a statement on Tuesday, Tuvalu's government said it had not received any formal notification that it was on the list, and had also been assured by the United States embassy in Fiji it was 'an error within the system'.
SBS Australia
3 days ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
Thousands seek Australian climate visas as Tuvalu sinks
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . For some time now, scientists have feared the tiny Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu [[tooh-VAH-looh]] may become uninhabitable within 80 years due to climate change. By 2050, NASA scientists project daily tides will submerge half the main atoll of Funafuti, home to 60 per cent of Tuvalu's residents, where villagers cling to a strip of land as narrow as 20 metres. 'Alopi Latukefu is the director of the Global Centre for Social Justice and Advocacy Leadership. He says the impacts are already being felt right now on Tuvalu's nine atolls scattered across the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii. "We are seeing these communities faced with real challenges in the community from the perspective of not just inundation from the sea level rise, but also in terms of food security, water security in these communities, the impact from regular events, whether they be king tides or more serious events that are creating a very difficult situation." 'Alopi Latukefu says it's important to understand not everyone wants to leave Tuvalu. "The decision to leave is a very big one and a very important one, and one which is tied to a range of other factors as well to support their families, to provide a pathway for a future, to have access to education, to have access to things that are part of the opportunity that Australia represents." But some may feel they have little choice. Two weeks ago, the Australian government opened an inaugural ballot that allows Tuvaluans to register their interest in a visa program created under the terms of a treaty known as the Falepili Union - which takes its name from the Tuvaluan term for neighbours who live in close houses. Professor Stephen Howes is the Director of the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, and says those selected for the visa will have significant rights to live, work and study in Australia. "It is a very generous visa. So most migrants to Australia have to endure a waiting period of several years before they're eligible for benefits. But that's not the case for migrants under this visa. I mean, they don't have access to Centrelink, so they can't come to Australia and just go straight onto unemployment benefits. But they do get access to Medicare, they get access to other benefits such as the family benefits, support to study." The interest in the visa is significant. Out of Tuvalu's population of roughly 10,000 people, almost a third of them have begun the process of applying. That's more than 3,000 people who have put their names into the lottery ballot - though only 280 people will be selected at random per year. Professor Jane McAdam is Scientia Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law at U-N-S-W Sydney. She says it's the world's first bilateral mobility framework that references climate change. "And I should note that the visa itself doesn't mention the words climate change at all, but the treaty pursuant to which it was created is framed very much around the existential threat that climate change poses in our region. And it was an element that the government of Tuvalu specifically requested from Australia." Professor Stephen Howes says while the visa will benefit those selected in the lottery, Australia has also gained some strategic advantages through the Falepili Union. "So what Australia got out of the agreements was a sort of veto power over Tuvalu's security arrangements or specifically security partnerships. So under the agreement, Tuvalu has to seek Australia's permission before entering into an agreement with the third country in relation to security, and that's clearly aimed at China." This broader geopolitical picture is inevitably inflected by the global politics of climate change - as the Pacific pushes Australia to reduce emissions and exports of fossil fuels. 'Alopi Latukefu has welcomed the new Tuvalu visa but says Australia needs to take stronger action to address climate change too. "It's not a climate visa, let's be very clear about this. It's under the Falepili treaty with a treaty of friendship with Tuvalu. It's often referred to as a climate visa, but it is one that is not framed in that context. And that's partly because of Australia's need to not frame things in that context because of our own interests." He says the fact Australia has just signed off on a 40-year extension to the North West Shelf gas project points to a fundamental contradiction in the way the visa is being positioned. "How can we give a visa for something that we're causing the problem with? Okay, it's much easier to say it's a visa for friendship." Mr Latukefu also says it's important that Tuvaluans are supported to maintain their connection to their lands and culture. For many this will mean moving between countries, rather than relocating to live in Australia permanently. "The reality is, very much as it's been the experience of many other diaspora communities from the Pacific, along with myself - I'm of Tongan descent and I go back to Tonga and we have links back to Tonga and a part of the Kāinga, the family with important links back to the land of my forefathers and the culture of my forefathers. And that's the same issue that Tuvaluans will have in future, that they won't leave necessarily forever." Professor McAdam agrees ongoing mobility will be important feature of the new visa type. "And that kind of parallels what we've seen in the labour mobility area where people often want to go between different countries. Obviously that's expensive. It's not going to be an easy option for people, but it does mean that they can go home, see family, see communities maintain land back at home. But it might also mean people can move here for educational opportunities for their children, take some of those skills back to Tuvalu, so it's not a fair accompli that we're going to suddenly see or over time see the whole population moving. What it does provide though is a safety net." Advocates and observers are also watching closely to see what support will be offered to help people transition to life in Australia. Professor McAdam says a Tuvaluan cultural liaison officer has been suggested as one way to help. "I think the proof will be in the pudding in terms of what actually happens when the first, second, third groups of people arrive, how well supported they feel once they're here, how much they are facilitated to create their own cultural facilities and community supports here. But also learning from New Zealand experiences ensuring that people don't become too reliant on what is quite a small diaspora community and that sufficient government supports are put in place."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
People on sinking Tuvalu seek Australia's climate visas
More than one-third of the people in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu, which scientists predict will be submerged by rising seas, have applied for a landmark climate visa to migrate to Australia. Tuvalu's ambassador to the United Nations, Tapugao Falefou, told Reuters on Sunday he was "startled by the huge number of people vying for this opportunity", and the small community was interested to learn who the first lot of climate migrants would be. Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change, which experts say is boosting sea levels, has a population of 11,000 on its nine atolls scattered across the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii. Since applications for Australia's visa lottery opened this month, 1124 people have registered, with family members bringing the total seeking the visa to 4052 under the bilateral climate and security treaty. Applications close on July 18, with an annual cap of 280 visas designed to ensure migration to Australia does not cause brain drain from Tuvalu, officials said when the treaty was announced in 2023. The visa will allow Tuvalu residents to live, work and study in Australia, accessing health benefits and education on the same basis as Australian citizens. "Moving to Australia under the Falepili Union treaty will in some way provide additional remittance to families staying back," Falefou said. By 2050, NASA scientists project daily tides will submerge half the main atoll of Funafuti, home to 60 per cent of Tuvalu's residents, where villagers cling to a strip of land as narrow as 20 metres. That forecast assumes a one-metre rise in sea levels, while the worst case, double that, would put 90 per cent of Funafuti under water. Tuvalu, whose mean elevation is just two metres, has experienced a sea-level rise of 15cm over the past three decades, one-and-a-half times the global average. It has built seven hectares of artificial land, and is planning more, which it hopes will stay above the tides until 2100.
New York Times
5 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
A Special ‘Climate' Visa? People in Tuvalu Are Applying Fast.
As sea levels rise, Australia said it would offer a special, first-of-its-kind 'climate visa' to citizens of Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation of atolls and sandbars where waters are eating away at the land. The visa lottery opened last week, and already nearly half of Tuvalu's population has applied. By any measure, Tuvalu is one of the smallest countries in the world. It's home to just 10,000 or so people scattered across nine small coral islands that add up to less than 10 square miles. It has been losing land to rising seas and further losses could make it one of the first countries to become uninhabitable because of climate change. Seawater is increasingly seeping into the country's few drinking-water wells. Within a century, some scientists predict, the twice-daily high tide alone will inundate more than 90 percent of the country's capital, the island of Funafuti, as well as Tuvalu's only airport. Most Tuvaluans live on Funafuti, which is just a few feet above sea level. Concerns like these underpinned an agreement two years ago between Tuvalu and Australia, with the latter pledging not just to help build sea walls but to grant a special visa to 280 Tuvaluans per year that would 'provide a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen.' The agreement, known as the Falepili Union treaty, allows grantees to obtain permanent residency and move freely between the countries. But both countries have taken pains to avoid using language that implies that Tuvalu may one day cease to exist. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Australia's landmark climate visa attracts thousands seeking refuge from rising seas
More than 3,000 Tuvaluans have applied for a landmark climate visa to move to Australia , as rising seas threaten to engulf vulnerable areas of the South Pacific island. Australia last week opened a new visa category specially set aside for adult citizens of Tuvalu following the groundbreaking climate migration pact, Falepili Union, signed in 2023. About 3,125 Tuvaluans – accounting for nearly a third of the population – had already entered the ballot within four days of its opening, Agence France-Presse reported, citing official data. Tuvalu is home to 10,643 people, according to 2022 census figures. Australia is offering visas to 280 Tuvaluans annually, with the ballot for the 2025-26 programme year closing on July 18. The visa requires an A$25 (US$16) registration fee. Water welling from the rocky ground forms a new lake in the centre of Amatuku Islet of Funafuti, Tuvalu. About 3,125 Tuvaluans have applied for a climate visa to live in Australia. Photo: AFP Canberra has hailed the climate migration pact as 'the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world'.
