The Morrison Government should help Australians get home from India
The Human Rights Law Centre has called on the Morrison Government to abandon its travel bans and facilitate the safe return home of Australians in India as COVID-19 rates escalate in the country.
Executive Director, Hugh de Kretser said, “Instead of threatening Australians with jail if they return home, the Morrison Government should be helping them. This includes ensuring access to flights and to safe and effective quarantine systems.”
In response to rising rates of COVID-19 in India, the Australian Government has banned all flights from India and issued a direction which threatens people with up to 5 years jail and $66,000 fines if they manage to fly to Australia after being in India in the past 14 days.
“Many Australians are in difficulty overseas as the pandemic continues and have been prevented from getting home by the flight limits already imposed by the Australian Government. The Australian Government should support them, not abandon and criminalise them at the worst possible time.”
Instead of threatening Australians in India with jail if they try to come home, the Morrison Government should be helping them. This includes ensuring access to flights & safe & effective quarantine systems. #StrandedAustralians pic.twitter.com/oSH334BwqD
— Hugh de Kretser (@HughdeKretser) May 2, 2021
“The Australian Government has created an unfair system for Australians overseas trying to get home. On the one hand, businesspeople, celebrities, sports people and the rich can travel here, while ordinary Australians face huge barriers.”
“The Australian Government has promised under international human rights law not to arbitrarily prevent Australians from returning home, but it is doing just that. The Government should abandon these travel bans and offences and get people home to loved ones.”
Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognise the right of people to leave and return to their own country. But these rights have not been protected in Australian law.
“This sorry episode highlights the lack of human rights protections in Australian law. Australia does not have a national Charter of Human Rights to ensure that values like freedom, equality, dignity and respect guide government action. This must change.”
IMAGE: Phoenix500 at English Wikipedia, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Acknowledgement of Country
The Human Rights Law Centre acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, including the lands of the Wurundjeri, Boon Wurrung, Gadigal, Ngunnawal, Cammeraygal, Darug, Wadawurrung, Turrbal and Jagera people where we work from.
We pay our respect to Elders past and present. This land always was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
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