Download 2.63 MB More than 200 Timor Leste and Vanuatu nationals applied for asylum in Australia this year with one labour expert warning that unscrupulous contractors are using the promise of a protection visa to lure vulnerable seasonal workers. According to data from Australia's Department of Home Affairs 46 Vanuatu nationals and 188 from Timor Leste applied for protection visas between April and October while there were no applications in the five months prior. Timor Leste's embassy in Australia said "due to the pressures of COVID-19 on seasonal workers, a number of Timorese seasonal workers have chosen to leave their original contracts and apply for Temporary Protection Visas."