Myanmar nationals living in Australia are welcoming a move from the Australian government to prioritise them in seeking onshore humanitarian protection visas.
At least 800 people within Australia have sought refuge since the military overthrew the elected government in their homeland, plunging the South-East Asian nation into chaos.
"In recognition of the grave humanitarian and security situation in Myanmar, the Albanese government has designated Myanmar nationals in Australia as a priority caseload in our onshore humanitarian visa program," a statement from Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said.
"Myanmar nationals currently residing in Australia who have arrived with a valid visa will have their application for protection prioritised by the Department of Home Affairs, reducing waiting times and providing certainty to those in need."
The news came as a relief to Naywoo – not her real name – who applied for onshore protection in July this year and has been placed on a bridging visa while it is processed.
"This is great news for me," she said.
"It is the really, really dangerous condition for all Myanmar people in Australia who participate in protesting … that's why protection for them is really important."
Naywoo was a student living in regional Australia with her husband and young daughter when her passport was revoked by the junta due to her taking part in the civil disobedience movement against military rule.
"I don't want to obey any of their orders because they are the illegal government … they stole our democracy," she said.
She feared she would be arrested at the airport if she was forced to return, and said she could hardly imagine the impact on her daughter.
More than 16,000 people have been arrested since the overthrow, including Australian economist Sean Turnell, an advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi who has been sentenced to three years in prison.
But activists are also urging the government to commit to concrete numbers and increase the number of Myanmar refugees we take in from overseas.
"I do welcome the priority for the onshore visa, but we should not ignore the offshore visa as well," said Dr Tun-Aung Shwe, the Australian representative of the alternative National Unity Government established after the coup.
"The people who are suffering under the military regime, those people are in Myanmar and on the border in Thailand in India."
The government said 1,600 offshore humanitarian visas were granted to Myanmar citizens in 2021-22.
'How long will they have to wait?'
Sydney woman Sophia Sarkis said her aunt and cousin were forced to flee the junta, in part due to her activism in Australia, and have been stuck in Thailand for two months.
"I never thought that my involvement with fighting against the junta would put my remaining family's lives in danger," she said, saying their home had been destroyed and her aunt was not in good health.
"How long will they have to wait in the stranger country where they know no one or how to speak the language?"
"If they are being forced to go back to Burma, they will certainly get arrested and most likely to get killed by the military. My heart is aching every day thinking of their life and how they have become stateless because of me."
The Immigration Department statement said: "Overseas, Home Affairs officers continue to work closely with the UNHCR in Bangkok, as well as other governments, to coordinate response efforts to the crisis in Myanmar."
Mr Giles has been approached for further comment.
Manny Maung, Myanmar researcher at Human Rights Watch, said while she was pleased to see a humanitarian focus from the government, sanctions were urgently needed.
"There needs to be sanctions put in place to actually target the perpetrators and stop them from continuing to commit these crimes, because people can't go home," she said.
She called for a special intake of Myanmar refugees from the border areas.
Australia sends millions to Myanmar and Bangladesh for food, shelter
The government also announced Australia will provide $135 million in 2022-23 for life-saving food, water and shelter through partner organisations in Myanmar and Bangladesh.
In a statement, they said the number of people in humanitarian need in Myanmar surged from 1 million to more than 14 million since the coup.
"Australia's humanitarian assistance will be delivered through the United Nations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and non-government organisations," they said.
"All partner organisations have proven capacity to deliver neutral and independent humanitarian assistance and reach those most in need. They are carefully chosen to ensure that Australia's assistance does not directly benefit or legitimise the military regime in Myanmar."
But both Ms Maung and Dr Shwe were concerned that aid money would fall into the junta's hands.
"Inside Myanmar what we're hearing is that people are saying they're not receiving that access to UN aid, they're not receiving access to any aid … because effectively the military itself is blocking them from accessing that," she said.
A spokesperson from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said Australia funds a range of "trusted" partners in Myanmar.
"Our partners face severe access and operating environment constraints but are still able to deliver assistance, often working with local organisations in hard-to-reach areas," DFAT said.
"These partners have established systems and networks in place which seek to mitigate risks in the current environment, and ensure accountability."
They added DFAT agreements have "strict counter-terrorism, anti-fraud, and anti-corruption requirements which the department actively monitors and enforces".
Naywoo said she had been told it could take more than two years for a protection visa to be processed, and Jana Favero from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said that was not uncommon.
"We have some clients who have been waiting up to 10 years for onshore protection visas," she said.
"We've been calling for reform to the humanitarian program for quite a while, because of the visa backlog, the length of time it's taking people to have their visas processed.
"So this is a good first step and recognition that the humanitarian situation in Myanmar is grave … But we look forward to such prioritisation being extended to other groups, such as people from Iran and Afghanistan."
She said Australia's humanitarian intake was at a historic low under COVID but had also been cut to 13,750 under the Morrison government.
She called on the Labor government to increase that to 27,000 places and steadily grow it to 50,000.
Tasneem Roc from the Myanmar Campaign Network said the group said prioritising Myanmar citizens was a step in the right direction, but called for additional humanitarian places.
"UNHCR in Thailand has not been accepting new refugees for some time and Thailand is actively pushing asylum seekers back to Myanmar," she said.
"MCN would like to see an increased allocation from 2,000 to at least 10,000 refugee subclass 200 visas from Myanmar for those offshore refugees, whose safety is in imminent danger."
