Almost 40% of Island Nation's Residents Want Off

Nearly 40% of people living on Tuvalu, the Pacific island nation predicted to be swallowed by rising seas, have applied to move to Australia. The latter country is offering 280 visas for Tuvalu residents. Winners, to be chosen at random between July and January, will get permanent residency in the country, meaning they'll be able to work, go to school, and access public health care. That's incredibly intriguing for the roughly 10,000 Tuvalu residents living across nine atolls and reef islands, CNN reports, noting more than 4,000 have applied for the opportunity since the one-month application window opened two weeks ago. Some analysts have predicted all residents will apply eventually, per the Conversation.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo has said at least 50% of the country will be regularly swamped by tidal surges by 2050, and 90% will be regularly underwater by 2100. "There is no option to ... move to higher ground, because there is no higher ground," he told the UN Oceans Conference last month, per CNN. The visa scheme, following a 2023 pact in which Australia agreed to defend the island nation militarily and against rising seas, "delivers on our shared vision for mobility with dignity, by providing Tuvaluans the opportunity to live, study, and work in Australia as climate impacts worsen," says Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

New Zealand has also established permanent migration pathways for Tuvaluans. Under the visa programs offered by Australia and New Zealand, almost 4% of Tuvalu's population could migrate each year, per the Conversation. In the US, meanwhile, President Trump is said to be considering adding Tuvalu to his administration's travel ban. Tuvalu's government is now asking for assurance that its citizens won't be "unfairly affected" by US actions, per ABC Australia.