Facing Rising Seas, Thousands in Tuvalu Seek an Escape Through Australia

While the increase in sea level gradually swallows the low island nations of the world, many citizens will have no choice but to leave their house. In Tuvalu, one of the most threatened archipelagos in the world, migration, migration has already started.

Nearly a third of the approximately 11,000 inhabitants of Tuvalu are looking for Australian visas to escape the empiet waters. In 2023, Australia announced that it would launch these visas as part of a bilateral treaty which he signed with Tuvalu – Le Monde First of all To create a special visa in response to climate change. Australia will offer 280 visas per year, and the first batch has become available June 16. More than 3,000 tuvaluans have applied.

The candidates selected should know the results of the lottery by the end of July, and the first migrants should arrive in Australia by the end of the year, a new scientist reported. Arriving in Australia, visa holders receive Immediate access to education, Medicare, the National Instruction of Instruction-Invalidity (NDIS), the family tax provision, a childcare grant and an allowance for young people.

“Australia recognizes that devastating climate change has the means of subsistence, security and well-being of countries and vulnerable climate people, especially in the Pacific region”, Department of Foreign Affairs of Australia said The goalkeeper.

Tuvalu is located in the Pacific Ocean of the Center-West and has an average elevation of less than 10 feet (3 meters). Some studies suggest that many of its islands will become uninhabitable due to floods, the intrusion of salt water, the storm wave and erosion before the end of the century, according to the World Bank. NASA researchers, for example, have foreseen That Tuvalu and other nations of the Pacific Island will see at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) of sea level in the next 30 years only.

“I saw the reality of climate change,” said Grace Malie, a citizen of Tuvalu and a delegate for the Rising Nations Initiative, NASA in 2024. “Everyone [in Tuvalu] Lives near the coast or along the coast, so everyone is strongly affected by this. »»

Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu and its most populous atoll, has already increased in the sea level of around 5.5 inches (14 centimeters) in the past three decades, according to NASA sea level change team. This represents about 1.5 times the average world rate. Funafuti is home to 60% of the Tuvalu population and, by 2050, scientists predict half of its area overwhelmed by daily tides.

The Tuvaluans already feel the effects of the increase in seas. The constant influx of salt water has contaminated agricultural land and groundwater in the country, forcing citizens rely on On the collection of rainwater collection and central raised gardens. This made the island nation more vulnerable to droughts, water shortages and disease epidemics, according to UNICEF Australia.

Tuvalu has implemented strategies to combat the elevation of sea level, in particular through the Coastal adaptation project of Tuvalu (TCAP), which the government launched in 2017. There was successIncluding improvements in coastal risks, land reclamation and coastal protections for external islands. However, many challenges remain.

While Tuvalu faces reality to sink under the waves, the government works to preserve its land and its state of state by creation A digital copy of the country. The project aims to “recreate [Tuvalu’s] Land, archive its rich history and culture and move all government functions in a digital space, “according to its website.

Tuvalu could be the first country to disappear following climate change, but it will certainly not be the last. Despite accounting For only 0.02% of global emissions, the Pacific Islands faced much greater climate risks than any other corner of the planet. While more and more Tuvaluans make the decision difficult to leave their homes, citizens of many other island nations will have a glimpse of what will happen.