One Nation has called for a halt to immigration from 26 countries, mainly in the Middle East and Africa, on the Australian government’s “do not travel” list.
Leader Pauline Hanson said the countries posed a security risk in a statement on Saturday which highlighted Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade maintains a list of countries it recommends that Australians do not visit overall, which includes those named by Ms Hanson along with South Sudan, Lebanon, Palestine, Libya, Bahrain, Kuwait, Niger, Mali, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, and Chad.
In addition to Haiti, the “do not travel” countries from outside the Middle East and Africa are Venezuela, Myanmar, North Korea, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Ms Hanson also wants Pakistani immigrants to be subjected to personal security checks of the highest level due to terrorism warnings for travellers, The Saturday Telegraph reported.
“Australia’s terrorism threat level remains ‘probable’, meaning ASIO assesses there is a greater than 50 per cent chance of an onshore attack or planned attack within the next 12 months,” Ms Hanson said.
“If the government warns Australians not to go to a country because of extreme security and terrorism risks, the government should not continue accepting ordinary migration from that country on a business-as-usual basis.
“The government cannot issue its highest security warning for an entire country about terrorism, kidnapping, arbitrary detention, armed conflict and collapsed authority, then pretend those same conditions are irrelevant to migration.
Ms Hanson said the government should otherwise explain why it was not heeding the warnings issued by its own experts, and said there should be no exceptions for refugees.
“These changes should apply to every new offshore visa from the listed ‘do not travel’ countries, including refugee and humanitarian visas. There should be no refugee loophole,” she said.
“Any future refugee or humanitarian visa from a ‘do not travel’ country should be considered only if the Government and relevant security agencies can give Australians an absolute assurance that the person’s identity has been established and that they present no security risk to Australians.
“The security of Australians must be the number one consideration of government. Stopping migration from ‘do not travel’ countries and applying greater security checks to countries with warnings will help keep Australians safe.”
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed net permanent and long-term overseas arrivals were 476,870 over the 2025-26 financial year, the highest on record.
Header image: Left, Pauline Hanson (One Nation). Right, women in Afghanistan (Pexels).
