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A New Zealander whose wife and son are stranded in the Philippines has described the government’s flights of mercy as a “bureaucratic jungle.”
Graham and Sandi Carter, along with their two-year-old son Hunter, traveled last year to spend six months with Sandi’s family in the Philippines.
Carter, 69, returned to New Zealand to work in December, however his wife and son were not due to return until March 22.
The Philippines has the highest number of coronavirus infections in Southeast Asia, although the government only began conducting massive tests this week. It went ahead to close its borders and put Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines where almost 60 million people live, under quarantine.
SUPPLIED
New Zealand citizens Sandi Carter and her son Hunter were staying with her family in the Philippines when the borders were closed and her return flights were canceled.
The week mother and son were to fly, the flights were on the ground.
On March 17, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade told New Zealanders traveling abroad to return home. Just a few days later, on March 24, Foreign Minister Winston Peters advised kiwis abroad to sit tight and “take refuge in their place” unless they already had a rock-solid route to home.
In the weeks since, the government has organized some flights to take home stranded kiwis in Peru, India and China. Others have managed to board flights organized by other nations such as Canada and Australia, from Nepal, Bangladesh and Japan.
On Friday morning, Graham Carter was sent an article on mercy flights for New Zealanders trapped in the Philippines.
JORDAN TAN / SUPPLIED
New Zealanders stranded in Peru arrived on a government-organized mercy flight in Auckland on Wednesday.
He said he spent the day trying to organize for his wife and son to take the Sunday flight from Manila, at a cost of $ 5,300.
Initially they were told that they had to pay in advance, which they could not pay, he said.
And the risk of Sandi Carter and her son traveling seven hours by bus to Davao only to be told that they couldn’t catch a flight to Manila and then New Zealand was too great, Graham Carter said.
“My wife would have had to travel for seven hours in a van with other strangers without guarantees of a ticket on the sweeper flight to Manila.
“If she was stranded in Davao, the repercussions could have been catastrophic without a place to stay and with a baby.”
When they had the confirmation that they could pay later, it was too late. “The bureaucratic fight was unimaginable.”
She stressed that she and her son were safe and sound and that the family supported them. A former member of the military, he said he was sending his veteran’s pension to help with living costs.
“There are many others who are worse, I know it.”
Other kiwis have also complained about the high price of mercy flights. However, the actual cost is around $ 12,500 per ticket, according to Mfat, which means that taxpayers are picking up the deficit.
Since the call to go home, some 17,000 kiwis have made it, but only about 500 have been put on a New Zealand government flight.
Carter was not sure when he would be able to see his family again. “My son wakes up in the morning and wants to talk to Dad.”
Mfat was not immediately available for comment.
