Australia bans COVID criminalization of India’s arrival Coronavirus pandemic News

As of May 3, Australian residents and citizens can face fines and imprisonment if they decide to fly home from COVID.

From Monday onwards, Australian residents and citizens of India will be banned from entering Australia and those who disobey will face fines and imprisonment.

A temporary “emergency decision,” issued late Friday, makes it a crime for the first time in Australia to return citizens home.

The movement is part of drastic measures to stop travelers from Australia to the world’s second-largest nation, as growth is on the rise COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Health Minister Greg Hunt announced that anyone trying to defy the new rules will receive $ 66,600 ($ 51,800), a five-year prison sentence or fines between the two, the Australian Associated Press reported.

“The government is not taking these decisions lightly,” Hunt said in a statement. “However, it is crucial to protect the integrity of Australia’s public health and quarantine systems and reduce the number of COVID-19 cases in quarantine facilities.”

The government will review the restrictions on May 15.

According to the Australian Associated Press, about 9,000 Australians in India want to return, with 650 listed as “weak”.

‘Racist politics’

The death toll from India’s coronavirus has surpassed 200,000 this week, with cases exceeding 19.1 million as new virulent strains have been combined with “super-spread” events such as political rallies and religious festivals.

Neela Janakiramanan, an Australian surgeon with an Indian family, said the decision to “criminalize” Australians returning from India was disproportionate and too punitive.

“India-Australians see this as a racist policy because they treat us differently than people from other countries who have had similar waves of infections like the US, UK and Europe. It is very difficult to feel anything other than ethnicity.”

A spokesman for the health minister “deeply” denied that stopping the arrival of Indians on a temporary basis was in favor of the measure, saying it was a difficult but necessary decision that “applies to all people regardless of their nationality, race or religion”.

Human rights groups expressed outrage at the ban, suggesting that the government’s focus should be on improving the quarantine system, not on sanctions.

“This is a horrible answer. Australians have the right to return to their country, ”Australian Human Rights Watch director Elaine Pearson said in a statement.

“The government should look for ways to safely quarantine Australians returning from India, rather than focus on prison sentences and harsh sentences.”

.@hrw Responding to a huge proposal by the Australian government to imprison and impose fines on those flying home from India during the COVID travel ban. ????????????https://t.co/KHmU4IDvGS pic.twitter.com/s9Fto6OkEe

– Elaine Pearson (@PearsonElaine) April 30, 2021

“Prisoners and fines for Australians who want to return home? Really? I am horrified to think that the Morrison government is an acceptable response to the humanitarian crisis in India, ”tweeted Green Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

“It’s a huge and dangerous precedent. And it needs to be called, ”the senator added.

An Australian with no community transmission on Tuesday filed a temporary suspension of direct flights from India until mid-May. However, some Australians, including cricketers Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson, returned via Qatar.

Australia has completely eliminated coronaviruses in March 2020 after closing borders to non-citizens and permanent residents, registering 29,800 cases and 910 deaths.