Relatives ‘surprised and shocked’ after 68-year-old Gaza woman’s Australian visa cancelled on security grounds

Palestinian Australian advocates call for transparency after home affairs department cancels visa of Fatma Almassri, a diabetic living in displaced persons’ camp, without warning

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A 68-year-old Palestinian woman with ill health has had her temporary visa cancelled on the grounds that she poses a risk to Australia’s national security.

Fatma Almassri, whose 27 children and grandchildren live in Australia, was granted a visitor visa in November. It was cancelled last week without warning, with the Department of Home Affairs stating “that the holder of the visa has been assessed by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation to be directly or indirectly a risk to security” and that “her presence in Australia poses a risk to the Australian community”.