SYDNEY — The first climate migrants to leave the remote Pacific island nation of Tuvalu have arrived in Australia , hoping to preserve links to their sinking island home , foreign affairs officials said Thursday.

More than one-third of Tuvalu’s 11,000 population applied for a climate visa to migrate to Australia, under a deal struck between the two countries two years ago.

The intake is capped at 280 visas annually to prevent a brain drain in the small island nation.

Among the islanders selected in the initial intake of climate migrants is Tuvalu’s first female forklift driver, a dentist and a pastor focused on preserving their spiritual life thousands of miles from home, Australian government officials said.

Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change be

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