Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Friday the government will resume funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which is providing humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza. In January, Australia joined several Western nations in suspending funding to UNRWA after Israeli intelligence suggested a dozen of its workers had been linked to the October 7 attack by Hamas militants. Australia is also being criticized for canceling the visas of several Palestinians fleeing the conflict with Israel in Gaza. The Australia Greens party says the move “shows a lack of humanity.”
Speaking to reporters Friday in Canberra Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said she was confident UNRWA was “not a terrorist organization.” She added that the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians was critical to providing help to people in Gaza “who are on the brink of starving.”
Earlier this month, Canada and the European Union announced they would also resume funding to UNRWA. The United States, the agency’s largest donor, continues to freeze payments.
Wong told reporters she is satisfied an investigation into the allegations following the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas has been thorough.
“The nature of these allegations warranted an immediate and appropriate response. The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organization, and that existing additional safeguards sufficiently protect Australian taxpayer funding,” she said.
Australia’s resumption of aid to the agency comes amid criticism for canceling the visas of Palestinians fleeing the conflict.
Data from the Department of Home Affairs states that Australia granted 2,273 temporary visas for Palestinians with connections to Australia between October 7 and February 6.
More than 2,400 visitor visas were also granted to people declaring Israeli citizenship during that period.
The visa category does not allow recipients to work or have access to education or government-funded health care in Australia, although they would not be turned away from emergency rooms.
Campaigners for refugees and migrants say several Palestinians have had their Australian visas abruptly canceled by the Canberra government in recent days. The government, citing “privacy reasons,” refuses to say how many visas are affected.
A cancelation notification obtained by local media asserted a particular applicant had never intended to genuinely “stay temporarily in Australia.”
Australia’s left-leaning Labor government has defended its actions, insisting they were based on ongoing security checks. A spokesperson for the Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the “Australian government reserves the right to cancel any issued visas if circumstances change.”
But Adam Bandt, the leader of the Australian Greens party, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Friday that visa applicants are being treated unfairly.
“What Labor is saying is that peoples’ visas are being canceled because Labor does not know how long the Labor-backed invasion of Gaza will last, and, accordingly, they are refusing them entry into the country. That is callous inhumanity,” said Bandt.
Australia has said Israel has the right to defend itself after the attack by Hamas militants last October.
Canberra advocates a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state co‑exist within internationally recognized borders.
