Four in five Tuvaluans apply to move to Australia. Frayzel is among them
Midnight on Friday was the deadline for the Pacific island nation's 10,643 citizens to enter a ballot for a permanent residency visa. As of Friday afternoon, 8074 people in 2278 family groups had applied, in what the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade called 'an incredibly positive uptake'. Just 280 places are available in the first year.
The Tuvalu figures are on top of the 56,000 people from other Pacific nations who applied for 3000 places in the broader ballot for the Pacific engagement visa last year. The next round is due to open soon.
One of the applicants in the Tuvaluan lottery is Frayzel Uale, 18, who moved to Melbourne four years ago with his family when his mother came on a student visa.
Uale, who is working a packing job while studying information technology, remembers his homeland as 'peaceful and joyful' and still feels connected to his culture, but he doesn't see a future for himself in Tuvalu.
'There are more opportunities here,' Uale said. 'I hear stories from Tuvalu about how the weather's been changing a lot lately, with king tides going up, the streets are sometimes covered in water, and erosion is happening everywhere. Tuvalu has contributed so little to climate change, but we are one of the most affected countries.'
Tuvalu is a low-lying atoll nation, like Kiribati and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, facing an imminent existential threat as sea levels rise.
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The visa is part of the Falepili Union Treaty, which also includes a security pact and climate mitigation to support Tuvaluans to stay in their homeland. DFAT says that in 2025-26, an estimated $47 million in development support will contribute to important climate adaptation, telecommunications, infrastructure, health and education projects in Tuvalu.
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