She's had to find foster carers for her dog, who she left in Australia. Visha says her new, unexpected, life in Mauritius has been difficult.
When the news of the travel ban spread, Visha, her husband and her son, immediately tried to return to Australia - but because they were not citizens or permanent residents, it was too late.
Australia lockdown rules flights full#
Those still stuck overseasĬhildcare worker Visha Sunyasi is among those still waiting to come home.įor the past two years, her home in Western Australia, full of belongings, has sat untouched after a family emergency days before the travel ban was announced forced an unexpected trip to Mauritius. There are many thousands of stories of people impacted by the travel ban - here are five of them. After years cut off from the rest of the country, on Friday Premier Mark McGowan announced the state's hard borders would lift on March 3 - a week and a half after the rest of the country.īut as Australia's "hermit kingdom" chapter closes, the pain of the past two years is still very fresh. Others are waiting for the final restrictions to lift on Monday, and some still don't know when their circumstances will allow them to return.įor West Australians, the uncertainty has lasted even longer. Many citizens have now come home and more have reunited with their families overseas.
Australia lockdown rules flights free#
While the travel ban helped keep Australia free from the pandemic-induced calamity elsewhere in the world, at least for a while, they also attracted sharp criticism - not least of all from thousands of Australian citizens who found themselves stranded overseas, unable to return to their country of birth due to travel caps and unreliable flights.
Couples have lived and cried apart, brought together only by screens, and many others have been forced to make drastic life changes due to policies outside their control. People have died, without family by their side. Much has changed: babies have been born, had birthdays, and started walking, without their grandparents, or even parents, there with them. In November, the restrictions barring fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents from leaving were removed, and weeks later, fully vaccinated eligible temporary visa holders and international students were given the green light to return.
On Monday, after 100 weeks shut off to the world, Australia's last remaining international border restrictions for fully-vaccinated travellers will be lifted, allowing international tourists to return. It could be shorter," Morrison said as he warned Australians against leaving the country.įew expected the actual time frame would be closer to two years. "We are looking at a situation of at least six months for how we deal with this. It was an unprecedented step for a country where just under half of the population have at least one parent born overseas.Īt the time, in March 2020, Morrison justified the travel ban on the basis that 80 per cent of coronavirus cases detected in Australia stemmed from overseas transmission.
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