Over a third of people on sinking Tuvalu seek Australia's climate visas


FILE PHOTO: Aerial view of Funafuti, Tuvalu’s most populous island, September 6, 2024. Picture taken through plane window. REUTERS/Kirsty Needham/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) -More than one-third of the people in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu, which scientists predict will be submerged by rising seas, have applied for a landmark climate visa to migrate to Australia, according to official figures.

Tuvalu’s ambassador to the United Nations, Tapugao Falefou, told Reuters on Sunday he was "startled by the huge number of people vying for this opportunity", and the small community was interested to learn who the first lot of climate migrants would be.

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