Tuvalu: Rising waters: 82% of the archipelago's inhabitants are applying for a climate visa to Australia
A total of 8,750 Tuvaluans have registered for the first batch of visas, the Australian High Commission said, representing 82 percent of the archipelago's 10,643 population.
Feleti Penitala Teo, Prime Minister of Tuvalu, has long warned of the threat that rising sea levels pose to his country. File photo: Sipa/Sopa Images
More than 80% of residents of Tuvalu, a Pacific archipelago threatened by rising sea levels, are seeking visas for Australia under a treaty signed in 2024, according to official figures.
Australia is offering visas to citizens of Tuvalu as part of a climate migration deal that Canberra has billed as "the first agreement of its kind in the world."
A total of 8,750 Tuvaluans have registered for the first batch of visas, the Australian High Commission said, representing 82 percent of the archipelago's 10,643 population.
"With 280 visas being offered this year under this program, this means that many people will not be able to benefit from it," the Australian High Commission said.
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