Asylum for climate refugees: Half of all residents of Tuvalu wants to move to Australia

Almost half of the population of the South Sea archipelago Tuvalu applied for a visa for immigration to Australia within a few weeks. The Australian government had announced in 2023 to grant the resident, which is extremely affected by climate change, a permanent right of residence – because within 100 years Tuvalu could have completely sunk in the sea.

According to a census of 2022, around 10,600 people live in the island state lying north of New Zealand and east of Papua New Guinea. According to unanimous media reports, 5,157 of these have applied for a visa. The forms went online in mid -June.

As part of the agreement, 280 inhabitants of Tuvalu can immigrate to Australia with a special visa per year. From July 25th, the places are to be awarded by a random procedure, as the news page “News.com.au” reported. If the number of applications in the future have the same extent, the entire population of Tuvalus could live in Australia within 40 years.

South Pacific particularly affected by climate change

In the South Pacific, the sea level increases particularly quickly in the course of global global warming. Tuvalu, like other islands in the region, will be largely flooded in the next few decades.

“Unfortunately, Tuvalu should be the first country in the world that becomes uninhabitable due to climate change. And that happens rapidly,” said a report by the UNICEF children’s aid work in the past year. Scientists therefore predict that 95 percent of the country will be under water until 2100.

Tuvalu consists of nine islands. The nation is one of the most located countries in the world: it only protrudes five meters from the sea at its highest point.