Nearly 680 Afghans who worked with Australia deemed eligible for refugee visas

There have been more than 26,000 applications made by Afghans to settle in Australia since the fall of Kabul in August.

Afghans are evacuated from Kabul in August 2021 as part of an operation by the Australian Defence Force.

Afghans are evacuated from Kabul in August 2021 as part of an operation by the Australian Defence Force. Source: Department of Defence

The Department of Defence has deemed 677 applications from Afghans who helped Australian forces are eligible for humanitarian visas.

The Department has processed more than 1,600 applications for the Locally Engage Employee visa, which is granted to Afghans who worked for Australia.

More than 500 applications were deemed ineligible, more than 350 were closed when applicants pulled out and 70 are outstanding, a Defence official told Senate estimates on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has previously said the 3,000 humanitarian visas set aside for Afghan refugees following the Taliban takeover was the minimum that would be offered.
There have been more than 26,000 applications made by Afghans to the federal government to settle in Australia since the fall of Kabul in August.

About 4,100 people were flown out of Afghanistan on Australian evacuation flights.

Defence has revealed almost 3,000 of those evacuees were Afghan nationals "with approved visas", 635 were British citizens, 167 were Australian citizens and 52 were New Zealand citizens.

There were also 310 New Zealand-sponsored Afghans, 18 US citizens and sponsored Afghans, one Singaporean citizen and one Fijian citizen.

200 Australians remain in Afghanistan

Meanwhile, it's also been revealed 96 Australian citizens and 106 permanent residents remain in Afghanistan.

The government secured 34 seats on a flight out of Kabul facilitated by Qatar on 11 October and says it is focusing on securing seats on further flights.

It is unclear how many visa holders remain in the country.

Some people are also leaving via the land borders and presenting to countries including Pakistan.

Officials are continuing to call, text and email people in Afghanistan, and are working to replace lost or damaged travel documents for people trapped in the country.

Family members in Australia are also being updated on the state of play.


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Published 28 October 2021 12:11pm
Source: AAP, SBS



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