Mizzima

The Australian government has sought to reassure more than 3,300 Myanmar nationals in Australia that it won’t force them to return when their visas expire, The Guardian reported.

But despite mounting calls to provide greater reassurance to Myanmar nationals in Australia, Canberra has stopped short of across-the-board visa extensions or offers of asylum, insisting the issues will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Australia’s immediate past ambassador to Myanmar, Nicholas Coppel, told Guardian Australia the government needed to provide more security to visa holders, saying they were “in limbo” and should be offered a pathway to permanent residency as “this crisis shows no signs of ending”.