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A Kiwi couple trying to get home from London fear they will soon be homeless after their flights to New Zealand were canceled with Singapore and Hong Kong banning transit from the UK.
The situation for Liz Crawshaw and her husband Rob has been compounded by the reservation of the MIQ system until March.
Other Kiwis were trapped after traveling to the UK for funerals or to see dying relatives, and were now surfing on the couch. Travel bans have separated families, like Kaz Jaskunaite, who has not seen his Kiwi partner for a year as he grappled with visa processes and travel dramas trying to return to New Zealand.
MIQ said the new border restrictions would affect up to 20 people each day, who had booked to fly from the UK to New Zealand.
iSTOCK
Singapore has banned the transit of passengers from the UK.
Singapore was one of 50 countries that have restricted travel from the UK due to fears of a new strain of Covid-19. The country is a major travel hub, used as a stopover for travelers traveling between Europe and Oceania. But since Christmas Eve, Singapore will no longer accept passengers from the UK.
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Hong Kong stopped traveling from the UK on Tuesday, meaning passengers booked with Cathay Pacific were left in the lurch. On Tuesday, Singapore Airlines confirmed that it was introducing the same rule and that no foreigners who have been in the UK 14 days prior to travel will be allowed to fly.
The airline said Stuff it was working with governments to try to reopen transit for Australia and New Zealand.
A MIQ spokeswoman said that although there were no currently available spaces until March, the chaotic nature of international travel at this time meant that the spaces were available regularly. He said people applying for the emergency isolation allowance will still have to meet an “extremely high” threshold.
CATHAY PACIFIC
Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines are no longer able to bring passengers to New Zealand from the UK due to new travel restrictions in Singapore and Hong Kong.
In London, Crawshaw and her husband had booked a flight back to New Zealand via Singapore on December 30. The day before, they would be packing up her room while the moving workers cleaned her house. His lease would expire that day and a few days later, new tenants would move in.
But their flights have been canceled, and the couple struggled to have an isolated location that works with the only flights that bring the Kiwis home from the UK; they must go through Dubai, United Arab Emirates or Tokyo, Japan.
SUPPLIED / Supplied
Liz Crawshaw and Rob, trapped in the UK
“We will be homeless,” Crawshaw said.
“The rules are that they say that you can change your flight but you have to change your flight for the same day as your quarantined voucher, that’s their rule, and we can’t find another flight that arrives that day.”
The south of England is on a Level 4 lockdown, which means that all non-essential stores had to close as of Saturday. Christmas plans were canceled and families were told to stay home so no one could travel or visit friends.
England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said the new Covid-19 variant appeared to be accelerating the spread of the virus. Concerns about that variant led to stricter controls in the UK and travel restrictions in other countries as well.
Crawshaw said that given these restrictions, their options were limited and he had no idea what they would do while waiting to get to New Zealand.
“By the rules, he’s not meant to spend the night with anyone. And I think that some hotels may be open if you defend your case, that you literally have nowhere to live. We don’t know if that is possible, I hope there is accommodation, “he said.
A spokeswoman for MBIE said travelers who were unable to arrive on the day they booked had to cancel their stay at MIQ.
“We want the kiwis to be able to get home, so if there are people with coupons that they will not use, we ask that they cancel their reservation as soon as possible so that someone else can get home,” he said.
Crawshaw said she stayed in the UK with her husband after he lost his job in the aviation industry. If I had returned to New Zealand earlier, there was a chance they would return without job opportunities.
“It was a difficult decision trying to travel during the pandemic, as you can imagine it was not easy, and we are eager to return to New Zealand. We just hope things change in the next few days. “
Crashaw was not alone. Stuff He has heard from many Kiwis in a similar situation, with flights canceled and no space at MIQ until March, they say they are looking to be homeless over Christmas and New Years.
Some have sent messages asking for help, saying they will be jobless, homeless and trapped in a locked city in a matter of days.
Others, like Karolina Jaskunaite, said the latest travel restrictions are one more hit. She had been granted a visa in March, a week before New Zealand closed, to live with her New Zealand boyfriend. That was canceled, but this month he got a visa for critical short-term purposes. She had been booked to travel through Hong Kong, then rebooked to go through Singapore, and now she was once again trapped in the UK separated from her partner for potentially months. A year had already passed.
She said Stuff: “It’s been a long time since I’ve been this low.”
He had quit his job to travel to New Zealand and was now out of work, but said he had spoken to many worse off Kiwis.
“I’m not in the worst situation, other people have sold their houses and belongings, but it is still quite difficult.”
When asked if the Foreign Office was working to reopen transit options for Kiwis in the UK, a spokeswoman said they acknowledged it was a “harrowing” time for those families, but the ministry could not offer guarantees. .
“New Zealand cannot influence or guarantee the entry, exit or transit requirements of another country or airline. We strongly encourage New Zealanders to seek the most up-to-date information, ”he said.
