Luis Ascui/AAP/dpa
No democratic country has sealed itself off as much as Australia during the corona crisis. Tens of thousands of citizens are still stuck abroad. Others who want to get out are locked in Down Under. How is that compatible with human rights?
Jade Grant strokes the hair of her one-year-old son Jacob while he plays on her lap. The grandparents in England have never had their grandson in their arms, they only know him from photos and video calls. But right now, a real hug couldn’t be more urgent: Jacob’s grandmother has terminal lung cancer and probably only has months to live. But the British family with three children, who emigrated to the Gold Coast town on Australia’s east coast five years ago, cannot leave without completely giving up their life – which they have struggled to build.
The strict international travel ban that Australia enacted in March 2020 to protect the population from Corona makes entry and exit almost impossible for most people. Since June, only 3085 people per week have been allowed into the country, before that there were still 6070. If you have a particularly valid reason, you can apply for a special permit from the Australian border guards. Terminally ill family members, funerals and urgent business obligations abroad are among these reasons.
Displeasure among those affected is growing
“I assumed that I would definitely get this special permit,” says Grant (32) in an interview with the German press agency. However, three applications have already been rejected, and the fourth is ongoing. This is the case with many, the reasons remain unclear. The displeasure among those affected is growing. Legal experts and human rights organizations are also increasingly questioning the legality of the 18-month travel ban.
The grants are down under with a temporary visa; they want to apply for citizenship in the coming year. Rob Grant is a carpenter – craftsmen are desperately wanted in Australia. In theory, the family can also leave the country – unlike citizens and residents. But without a special permit, she will not come back into the country afterwards. And this is simply not granted. The situation is unbearable, says Grant. «The topic determines our entire life, we can no longer think of anything else. It’s a daily struggle. “
“Were held against our will”
No other democratic state has closed its borders for so long and so strictly in the corona pandemic. The media regularly speak of “Fortress Australia”. On social networks, angry citizens are already comparing the country to the prison colony it once was. “When I imagine that someone is imprisoned in a country, it sounds like an undemocratic, totalitarian system to me,” says Kim Rubenstein, law professor at the Australian National University (ANU).
“We were detained here against our will,” says Shaalyn Monteiro, an Indian artist who lived with her husband in Sydney for almost five years and wants to leave the country forever in September. «We want to be with our family and not come back. We have also proven this in our application. To what extent are we endangering the health of Australians when we are not here at all? ” A question that the Ministry of Health in Canberra did not answer when asked by the dpa. After repeated unsuccessful applications, the couple finally managed to get approval.
The legal basis for the international travel ban is the Bio Security Act of 2015. In the interests of public health, the government can restrict the freedoms of its citizens – as in this case freedom of movement, which is also a human right. «The framework in which the travel ban was imposed does not seem to me to be legitimate. The Bio Security Act contains formulations that are similar to those of the Human Rights Convention and state that all measures must be reasonable and appropriate, ”says Rubenstein. But are Australia’s rules still there?
Human rights activists and critics of the travel ban are now calling for at least the construction of special quarantine facilities to enable more people to enter and leave the country safely. So far, everyone – whether vaccinated or unvaccinated – has to be in hotel quarantine for 14 days, which costs around 3,000 Australian dollars (around 1,800 euros) per person and has to be paid for yourself. “Investing in special facilities would mean we can get more Australians home faster,” says Tim O’Connor of Amnesty International Australia. Many have been waiting for this since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to the latest information from the Australian Foreign Ministry, around 40,000 Australians abroad state that they want to return to their homeland. Those affected report that flights are repeatedly canceled and that ticket prices are up to ten times higher than under normal circumstances. Many simply cannot afford to return.
Christian, an Australian screenwriter, was also stuck in the US for a long time. It took a lot of patience and money to make it back to Sydney. “Any Australian living abroad who wants to come home should be given both help and permission,” he says. “Any policy that acts differently is despicable.”
For Australians who usually live abroad and have to come back for urgent family reasons, the exit regulations have now even been tightened: After the visit, they are no longer automatically allowed to travel to their actual place of residence and must also apply for a special permit. Amnesty wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison that this was not only a violation of human rights, but could also be seen as a violation of the Australian Constitution.
New Zealand plans to reopen in early 2022
Australia’s isolation strategy has long been effective, the death toll in connection with Covid-19 is still below 1000. But the delta variant has been spreading for months. Lockdowns are increasingly being ordered for entire regions and metropolises of millions – sometimes for a week, sometimes – as is currently the case in Sydney – for months.
Australia’s neighbor New Zealand recently announced that it would gradually reopen its borders in early 2022. The Australian government has last promised to open the country in July 2022. It’s too late for Jade Grant and many others who are distant from family and friends.
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