I Still Call Australia Home?
In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian government has closed its borders, but welcomes home Australian citizens and permanent residents. At least, in theory. In practice, it is not as simple as boarding a plane and flying home. Due to severe restrictions placed on international passenger arrivals into the country, tens of thousands of Australians are still stuck overseas, myself and my family included.
Australians stranded in other countries have encountered numerous difficulties returning home. Flight caps have been placed on international arrivals into all Australian ports, which are set in order to manage and maintain quarantine arrangements. The current rules limit arrivals to only 6,290 people per week. Meanwhile, the cities of Melbourne and Hobart do not allow international passenger arrivals at all. The flight caps have greatly affected airlines, which are operating at a quarter to a third of capacity on long and costly routes. Qantas, Australia’s national airline, has frozen flights beyond Australia until mid-2021.
The government has organized some token repatriation flights, but these are limited and inadequate. The restrictions on entry mean that flights home are scarce, but this hasn’t stopped airlines from selling tickets that don’t exist. Airlines are accepting passenger reservations, but then bumping economy seats. These “offload cancellations” mean that only business and first class seats are retained, at exorbitant prices, forcing customers to pay a premium for a one-way flight home. Many affected citizens are in financial distress, racking up serious debts due to multiple canceled flights, while airline refund processing times are taking up to one year. Some airlines are scheduling flights to Australia and selling tickets, but then canceling the flights altogether, although refusing to issue refunds. (This has happened to me three times, so far.)
These capacity limits have created a bottleneck of citizens who are desperate to get home. At present, over 34,000 stranded Australian citizens have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), although it is estimated that up to 100,000 or more are stranded around the world.
In earlier months, there were assurances from the government that any Australians who wanted to be home for Christmas would receive assistance to do so, but as the year draws nearer to a close this positive outcome is highly unlikely.
The situation has threatened the safety and security of Australian citizens overseas and has had unexpected consequences. For example, in Doha, Qatar, a number of Australian women were sexually assaulted by officials when a newborn was discovered abandoned in a trashcan in Hamad airport. In another incident, DFAT admitted that it revealed the emails of almost 3,000 vulnerable Australians stranded overseas in a data breach. There are also reports of cyber scammers preying on desperate people by selling fraudulent airline tickets.
For those citizens who do manage to get home, there is a 14-day compulsory quarantine imposed on returning travelers. The quarantine is self-funded, at great additional expense to individuals and families. The quarantine system has proven to be a bureaucratic nightmare and is being mishandled at the ground level. In a hotel in Victoria, blood glucose testing devices were reused, exposing hundreds of people to cross-contamination and blood borne viruses, including hepatitis B and C, and HIV. A Queensland woman in hotel quarantine, whose windows would not open in her room, was refused access to fresh air for two weeks, prompting the Queensland Human Rights Commission to rule that she was “deprived of liberty”. People who have quarantined have complained of confinement to small rooms with no outside contact, being fed food of poor nutritional value, and a lack of healthcare (except for COVID-19 checks). The quarantine system is without regard for those traveling with young children, and people with disabilities or mental health issues. A distressed man in Western Australia suffering severe claustrophobia was refused a balcony and upon complaint was forced to spend the night in police lockup before being offered the choice between a hotel and prison. He later complained that his conversations and telephone calls were monitored. People who have experienced quarantine have likened it to being treated like a criminal instead of a paying guest.
Many Australians stuck overseas have been living in limbo for months, while some are vulnerable or endangered. Australian embassies and consulates are overwhelmed and helpless, while the government has shirked its responsibilities to its citizens, offering paltry emergency loans to those facing extreme hardship and issuing dismissive advice that affected citizens should borrow money from friends and family or seek out local homeless shelters. Australian citizens who have become illegal immigrants in other countries have simply been advised to keep out of trouble and out of the way of local police. There are cases of Australians camping out at airports, rendered homeless after being bumped from multiple flights. Australians stranded overseas feel abandoned, betrayed, and forsaken by their government, and are suffering financially, physically, and emotionally in their attempts to get home.
Every Australian trying to get back home has a poignant story and there are numerous personal accounts shared on social media. Some expatriates have had a work visa that has since expired, they have lost their jobs, or their visas have been canceled. In several cases Australians have been declared illegal immigrants and threatened with imprisonment. Others are migrants or permanent residents who must arrive in country prior to an impending visa expiration date. Some are homeless or stranded without medical coverage. A large number of overseas citizens have medical issues and must return home for access to medication and treatment. Others want to return for compassionate reasons. Perhaps they have suffered the death of a loved one and want to be reunited with their families. In my case, my father passed in September, but I have been unable to get back home to attend his funeral or see my family.
Meanwhile, in a country that supposedly values classlessness, fairness, and egalitarianism, some Australians seem to be above the law. There have been instances of celebrities and sportspeople enjoying preferential treatment, such as those who obtained expedited flights to Australia. The government insisted there were to be “no exemptions” from “mandatory” quarantine, except for, apparently, Australian actors Nicole Kidman and Danii Minogue, and businessman Kerry Stokes, who were spared hotel quarantine and instead permitted to self-isolate in their mansions and on their estates. (This is a luxury that has not been provided to critically ill people.) Furthermore, the strict rules don’t seem to apply to rich and famous non-citizens whose flights have been prioritized or who have been granted quarantine privileges not afforded to citizens.
The morale of Australians stranded abroad is further challenged by the prejudice of some Australians who are in country. The psychological stress of the pandemic has polarized Australians, creating an “us and them” mentality. This othering has been further provoked by some politicians and their use of “travelers”, “returning travelers”, and “overseas arrivals” as pejorative terms that minimize the severity of the situation. Australians overseas are demonized. There is a flippant “bugger them” mindset in which some onshore Australians lack empathy and compassion for the plight of their fellow offshore Australians. In general, the Australian public is being misinformed, some believing incorrectly that all citizens have now returned home, and at the cost of taxpayers. Many are completely unaware about the situation.
In these unprecedented times, Australian citizens overseas are affected by circumstances beyond their control, although there is a false narrative in country that “travelers” are “irresponsible” and “should’ve gotten home earlier.” The government is blaming Aussies abroad for their struggles, however, early communications advised Australians overseas to “stay put” and “shelter in place”. Negative attitudes toward citizens overseas run contrary to the prized Australian ethos of mateship. In truth, Australians stranded overseas embody the celebrated “Aussie spirit” of stoicism, resilience, and the optimistic idiom that Australians live by, “She’ll be right, mate.” Those who still call Australia home are simply asking for the feted “fair go”.
After many months of inactivity, the situation is at a breaking point. The Human Rights Commission is considering complaints from those affected that the Australian government is in violation of international law. They have been accused of excluding citizens from their homeland and infringing their right to enter their own country. They have been accused of breaching human rights regarding freedom of movement, and engendering the separation of family. Famed human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson has stated that the policy clashes with a United Nation’s treaty which enshrined a person’s right to return home, and is a “serious breach” of human rights.
Amnesty International has even taken up the cause with a petition. There is mounting pressure on the Australian government to lift the flight caps and consider reasonable alternatives to their heavy-handed, poorly organized approach to quarantine. In seeking solutions to this crisis, Australia needs to look to measures implemented successfully in other countries, namely Canada, Singapore and Taiwan, as models for how to deal with the situation effectively and fairly.
Karen Stollznow is the author of the new book, “On the Offensive: Prejudice in Language Past and Present.”
