Jeremy Rockliff,Acting Premier
The unfolding crisis in Afghanistan continues to shock the world deeply and we know that there are Tasmanians who have family and friends impacted.
Tasmania stands ready to support both our local Hazara community and play our role in the national effort to assist the Australian Government in its humanitarian response to the crisis through the return of Afghan people to Australia.
That's why this coming Sunday, 5 September, Tasmania will accept a flight of around 150 returning Australians travelling from the UK in order to free up hotel space in other jurisdictions for incoming Afghan people.
This will follow a similar process to our seasonal worker program, with our dedicated international seasonal worker hotel – the IBIS in Hobart – to be used to accommodate returning Australians from the UK.
Public Health and the State Control Centre are working to ensure we have all the necessary arrangements and precautions in place.
From a COVID perspective, those travelling from the UK will be lower risk than those coming in from Kabul due to higher vaccination rates, however, it is not without risk and we will need to be prepared for a potential case of COVID from this flight.
All travellers will be subject to a negative test before travel to Australia, with regular testing undertaken during their strict 14 day hotel quarantine.
A negative test will also be required before travellers are able to leave quarantine. We will continue to prepare and put every precaution in place.
What we are seeing unfold in Afghanistan is truly tragic and we must do what we can as a State to help in this significant humanitarian effort.
We must also do what we can to support those here in Tasmania impacted and that's why we will provide $85,000 to service providers dealing with queries around support, including the Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service, the Migrant Resource Centre North, the Migrant Resource Centre Tasmania, and the Tasmanian multicultural peak body, the Multicultural Council of Tasmania (MCOT).
This support will help ensure Tasmanian Afghan/Hazara community members affected by the crisis in Afghanistan can continue to be supported in Tasmania, during this very difficult time.
We will continue working with the Commonwealth and service providers to better understand how we can assist current and future humanitarian efforts.
