17 July 2025
The Hon. Tony Burke MP
Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Cyber Security and Minister for Immigration
Senator the Hon. Penny Wong
Minister for Foreign Affairs
The Hon. Dr Anne Aly MP
Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for International Development,
Minister for Small Business
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Ministers,
I am writing on behalf of the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) to provide community feedback on the impacts of the ongoing crisis in Sudan and encourage the Australian Government to increase its response through humanitarian aid, diplomacy and resettlement.
The conflict in Sudan has intensified since our letter in May 2023 to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Immigration, in which we requested an immediate guarantee that anyone from Sudan currently in Australia could remain. This request was in line with UNHCR’s 2023 position on returns to Sudan and called for a clear process to be established to allow Sudanese nationals on temporary, Bridging and Visitor visas to extend their stay. We note that UNHCR has reiterated its concerns about Sudan in its Guidance Note issued in April 2025.
This crisis provides another illustration of the need for Australia to create a robust emergency policy framework that ensures responses are coherent, consistent and equitable. In partnership with its members and the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, RCOA has developed a forward-looking crisis response framework grounded in urgent protection, timely action, predictable responses, community engagement and additionality. The framework is detailed in our submission to the 2024-25 Humanitarian Program Discussion Paper. It includes principles that strongly align with DFAT’s recent Humanitarian Policy commitments to global refugee protection, including leadership in international resettlement and the expansion of durable solutions.
Recent crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Gaza have demonstrated Australia’s capacity for swift and compassionate responses. We believe the same approach should also be extended to the crisis in Sudan, which UNHCR’s 2024 Impact Report called the largest displacement crisis of the year. The conflict has forcibly displaced 14.3 million people, including people who were already internally displaced and refugees from other countries who had sought safety in Sudan. The same report confirms that in August 2024, Sudan faced its worst food crisis, with 26 million people suffering from acute hunger and famine. Members of the Sudanese diaspora in Australia have shared with us the devastating impact the conflict is having on their families, providing detailed accounts of widespread violence, human rights violations against civilians, torture, sexual violence and targeting of ethnic groups.
The number of people fleeing to neighbouring countries such as the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda continues to increase. Host nations have stated they cannot cope and are calling for increased assistance to meet the needs. The drastic reduction in global humanitarian aid funding has crippled the capacity of humanitarian agencies to provide food, water, shelter, education and urgent medical care. Some agencies have closed their operations in Sudan, placing countless lives at immediate risk.
The Refugee Council joins the Sudanese diaspora’s call for the Australian Government to increase its humanitarian assistance to Sudan and neighbouring countries hosting Sudanese refugees. Given the Australian Government’s recognition that Sudan is facing the world’s greatest displacement and hunger crisis, it is imperative that this recognition is translated into increased humanitarian aid.
Community members in Australia have shared with us details of their efforts to fundraise for urgent medical and basic supplies in locations where no other humanitarian aid is available. Given their detailed knowledge of the crisis and local needs, the Sudanese diaspora is eager to engage with the Australian Government to provide strategic advice on where humanitarian aid can be directed and on-arrival support needs in Australia.
Further, Australia’s Sudanese diaspora organisations are calling on the Australian Government and the international community to exert greater pressure on the parties involved to end the conflict and establish safe corridors for humanitarian aid for people in most affected areas.
In Australia, urgent needs are emerging among Sudanese nationals on temporary visas, highlighting the need for access to temporary humanitarian stay arrangements. Between 1 April 2023 and 31 December 2024, Australia granted 1,500 visas to Sudanese citizens. Of these, 448 were visitor visas, with the remaining consisting of family, resident return, skilled and student visas. Members of the Sudanese community have told us that people on temporary visas are struggling and need better access to support including a financial safety net, housing support and childcare subsidies. As there is no indication that Sudan’s crisis will be resolved quickly, we recommend that the Government implement a clear pathway to a durable visa for people from Sudan, and ensure that visa-holders have access to rights on arrival (including education for children, access to Medicare, rights to work and employment support). This could be in line with provisions offered to Palestinians who arrived on visitor visas in Australia.
In recognition of the changed circumstances in Sudan since 2023, the Australian Government should allow Sudanese nationals with previously rejected asylum claims to reapply, including those on a removal pathway. This would be in line with UNHCR’s updated advice on returns. Country information used to assess protection claims should be updated to reflect the current situation.
Sudanese Australian grassroots organisations have shared with us their work providing intensive case management, information and social support programs to recent arrivals, filling in the gaps left by funded services due to visa eligibility. The programs provide crucial information and culturally responsive social support that is vital in promoting mental health and wellbeing. Despite its importance, this work is poorly resourced, reliant on volunteer labour and small one-off grants. There is a need for greater resourcing of organisations supporting Sudanese nationals that have sought refuge in Australia due to the ongoing war.
As the conflict escalates, RCOA is calling on the Australian Government to prioritise processing of visas for Sudanese nationals to enable timely exits to safety. This includes pending Family, Skilled, Refugee and Humanitarian visas as well as Visitor visas. This prioritising should extend to on-hand Refugee and Humanitarian visas for refugees currently residing in Sudan and those of Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet you to discuss the points raised in this letter further.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Power
Chief Executive Officer
Refugee Council of Australia
