Pacific Islanders relocate to Australia to escape rising seas

LONDON - More than a third of people living in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu have applied to permanently migrate to Australia under a landmark visa scheme, Australian government figures show.

Australia's new Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) lottery allows Pacific Islanders, whose coastal homes are sinking under rising seas because of climate change, to apply to become permanent residents each year.

Though the main PEV programme opened last year, a separate Tuvalu-specific visa ballot was launched in June as part of a treaty signed with Australia in 2023.

Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change, has a population of 11,000 on its nine atolls scattered across the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii.

By 2050, NASA scientists project daily tides will submerge half the main atoll of Funafuti, home to 60% of Tuvalu's residents, where villagers cling to a strip of land as narrow as 20 metres (65 feet) in some places.

What is the Pacific Engagement Visa?

The Pacific Engagement Visa lets up to 3,000 Pacific Islanders resettle in Australia every year. Applicants can apply for the visa by registering for a ballot, which launched in June 2024. 

The Australian government said it received more than 56,000 ballot applications from citizens across the Pacific and East Timor, with each country given a quota to prevent "brain drain".

Applicants randomly selected from the ballot system can apply for the PEV, provided they are under-45, from an eligible country, have a current passport and a job offer.

For Tuvaluans, a job offer is not required.

Visa holders can live, work and study in Australia indefinitely, accessing health benefits and education on the same basis as Australian citizens. 

They can also apply for citizenship and sponsor relatives to live with them.

Some researchers and analysts say the PEV provides a viable climate migration pathway for Pacific Islanders. 

New Zealand introduced a similar visa in 2002 called the Pacific Access Category visa ballot, allowing up to 650 citizens from Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tonga or Fiji to receive permanent residency each year.

What about the visa scheme for Tuvalu?

Tuvalu has its own visa scheme under the PEV programme, which Australia has described as the "first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen".

Within days of its launch in June this year, 1,124 Tuvaluans registered for the visa ballot, with family members bringing the total seeking the visa to 4,052 under the bilateral climate and security treaty. 

This scheme has an annual cap of 280 visas.

Why is Australia offering visa pathways for Pacific Islanders?

Australia sees deeper economic and social integration with the Pacific Islands as a way to ensure the security of the region, especially as U.S. presence diminishes and Chinese influence grows, analysts say. 

Offering resettlement options and expanding its short-term labour programmes are key ways for Australia to strengthen ties within the Pacific and position itself as a regional powerhouse.

How could these visa schemes impact Pacific nations?

Some leaders and policy-makers in island nations fear Australia's efforts to court migrants could fuel a "brain drain" of skilled people. 

In 2021, there were more than 337,000 people with Pacific Islander heritage in Australia, a jump from around 217,000 a decade prior, according to a report from the Australian National University, which analysed census data.

Pacific islanders can earn significantly more in Australia than at home - up to four times more for Tongans and nearly 10 times more for workers from Vanuatu, according to a 2023 report by the World Bank and Australian National University.

On average, around 60% of their earnings can be sent home in remittances, the report added.

The mass departure of skilled professionals, especially digital workers, is a worrying trend, Fiji's Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica has said.

"This is a matter of great concern to our nation, as the loss of highly skilled professionals in the IT sector can have serious implications for our economic growth and competitiveness," he told a conference in 2023.

Samoa has raised similar concerns about the exodus of Pacific migrants to Australia and New Zealand.