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This Week in AsiaHealth & Environment

Australia’s landmark climate visa attracts thousands seeking refuge from rising seas

About 3,125 Tuvaluans have entered the ballot for a climate visa to live in Australia, but analysts warn of brain drain

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The serpentine coastline of Funafuti Atoll of Tuvalu. Scientists have warned Tuvalu is likely to have only 80 years before it becomes uninhabitable. Photo: AFP
SCMP’s Asia desk
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.

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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
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”.

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