Palestinians fleeing Gaza with valid Australian visas only for them to be cancelled mid-flight or at airports have been described as “collateral damage” for the federal government’s failures.
One charity group helping Palestinians to leave the war zone, the Palestine Australia Relief and Action (Para) group, said it has already had to cancel or postpone the upcoming flights of at least 70 people, including sick and elderly, and is frustrated by the lack of clarity.
Rasha Abbas, Para’s executive director, also holds grave concerns for one 23-year-old man, who remains stuck in an airport in Istanbul after his visa was cancelled while he was en route to Australia. He cannot return to Egypt or leave the airport in Turkey without a valid visa.
Abbas said the Albanese government must act urgently to rescue the man, who has serious health issues, “before it becomes an international headline that’s so embarrassing for Australia”.
The Albanese government began suspending visas this week to investigate how some visa-holders were able to leave “without explanation”. Palestinians must be approved by both the Israeli and Egyptian authorities to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
About 1.5 million people are believed to be in the southern Gazan city after being displaced by Israeli forces as it began air and ground assaults in the territory’s north. The bottleneck of Palestinians who hope to leave the besieged territory has resulted in some paying unofficial brokers to make the journey. It is understood those who have resorted to such services have raised flags with the Australian authorities.
A spokesperson for the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, told Guardian Australia on Friday it made “no apology for doing everything necessary to maintain our national security”.
“If people make it out of Gaza without explanation, or their circumstances change in any meaningful way, we will take the time to understand those changes before proceeding,” the spokesperson said.
But Palestinians stuck in the region have become increasingly desperate as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to move forward with his ground invasion of Rafah.
Mohammed Almassri’s sister-in-law used brokers to get her four children into Egypt from Gaza, where they have been stuck for a month.
The 43-year-old from Punchbowl, New South Wales, said he had urged his sister-in-law to fly to Australia as soon as possible after seeing the news of visas being cancelled in recent days. They bought flights and checked their visas were still active before leaving for the airport on Wednesday.
At the airport, they were told their visas were no longer valid.
“They can’t go back to Gaza, and they can’t leave Egypt. They have to wait in Cairo until we see how the situation is going. We don’t know what is happening. It really is very depressing,” he said.
“They are heartbroken because they are waiting a long time, they started dreaming they would come here, start new lives, new future and suddenly, nothing.
“We are Australian citizens. We are safe here and everyday we lose people in Palestine. Why, if you want to cancel the visas, why do you give it to them from the beginning? Don’t give them visas and cancel them, this will make more depression.”
The department said its reason for cancelling the visa on Wednesday was that they “never intended a genuine stay temporarily in Australia”.
Abbas said she has been trying to get clarity from the minister’s office for days but her attempts so far had been met with silence. She described the series of events as a “process failure” and the Palestinian families affected as “collateral damage”.
“I have a mum and dad in their late 60s that had an accident once they left the Rafah border, and they had to be hospitalised and the daughter is so upset,” she said.
“I had them booked on the 21st [of March] and another three with massive health issues and trauma on the 21st as well. I have had to cancel all those flights.”
Abbas said with no consular support on the ground in Rafah, those with valid visas trying to leave had few options available.
“The best thing the government can do if it wants to control the process is provide consular support,” she said.
“You have issued the visas, you understand that they are immediate and close relatives of Australian citizens. Support their exit.”
More than 2,000 visas have been issued to Palestinians since the conflict began in October last year but fewer than 400 have arrived in Australia in that period.
A Guardian investigation earlier this year revealed brokers are making thousands of dollars in fees from desperate Palestinians who are trying to exit the territory through the Egyptian border crossing in Rafah.
