Threatened by the rise of the oceans, almost the whole population of the Tuvalui is preparing to leave

INTERNATIONAL – Exit gate: Australia. In the Pacific, the Polynesian archipelago of Tuvalu is one of the places in the globe most threatened by the rise in oceans and global warming. So much so that the majority of residents want to leave.

According to official figures obtained this Wednesday, July 23 by AFP, more than 80 % of people living in the archipelago seek to obtain a climate visa for Australia, as part of a treaty signed in 2024. A first candidacy campaign was held between June 16 and July 18, specifies Libération. With a result expected on July 25.

In total, the authorities received 8,750 registrations, which represents 82 % of the 10,643 inhabitants identified (in 2022) in the archipelago. These are “Extremely high levels of interest” underlined the diplomatic mission of Australia in Tuvalu in a statement.

Australia indeed offers specific visas to the citizens of the archipelago since the signing of a climate migration agreement that Canberra presents as “The first of this kind in the world”. A pass which then allows ” to live, work and study everywhere in Australia, indefinitely ”.

The fact remains that demand is too strong compared to the reception capacities established on site. With ” 280 visas offered this year for this program, this means that many people will not be able to benefit from it ”noted the Australian High Commissioner.

The clock turns

On the archipelago, the table is ” catastrophic. » “The rise of waters already erodes our land and our smaller islands disappear, submerged. Salt water, which infiltrates plantations and cultures, destroys them ”, Explained for example Seve Paeniu, Minister Tuvaluan of Finance and Climate Change, to Libération fin 2023.

The daily newspaper today relays the testimonies of several inhabitants of this small archipelago of the Pacific, concerned more than any other place in the world by the inexorable mounted of the waters. Among them, the words of Frayzel Uale, 18, who initially confided in the Sydney Morning Herald.

For this young man, impossible to see a future in his country of origin. There is ” More opportunities here ”he assures. “” In the Tuvalu, the climate has changed a lot, with exceptional tides, flooded streets and omnipresent erosion Adds the man who has already exiled in Australia to follow his studies (thanks to a student visa), while waiting to obtain this climate visa. It is a draw that will decide on the 280 recipients.

In the meantime, the clock turns for the inhabitants of the Tuvalu, who may be in the total inability to live there within 80 years, to believe the estimates. According to The world, 95 % of the territory could be flooded by the end of the century, because of large periodic tides, if the increase in temperatures was not maintained below 1.5 ° C. The country, whose culmination is only 4 meters above sea level, would then be uninhabitable.