‘They have forgotten us’: Thousands of Austral stray stranded abroad

When conditions are different, one issue remains the same – Australians abroad are abandoned by their government during a coronavirus epidemic.

The cap has resulted in skyrocketing and backlog of canceled flights as skyrocketing prices have skyrocketed.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says at least 25,000 Austral Australians, many of whom are financially and medically weak, have registered to come home since July. However, Australia’s board of airline representatives estimates that the true number of people trapped is close to 100,000.

Before the cap was put in place, Australia already had some of the world’s toughest coronavirus travel measures. Since March, hotel quarantine has been made mandatory, foreign tourists have been barred from entering and citizens have been barred from going.

Those now trying to return home are Australian citizens who left the country before the epidemic, not holidaymakers.

“You should come home”

More than 357,000 Australian Australians returned home in the first three months after the international border was closed, according to DFAT.

In contrast, in the last two months, where cap entry has been restricted to more than 1,000,000 Australians. Critics, including Commerce Minister Simon Birmingham, have argued that citizens should return to the early stages of the epidemic.

“In most cases you have to come back if you want to come back,” Birmingham said.

Numerous Austral Australians currently stranded abroad told CNN that when the government urged citizens to return home in March, it was a message aimed at short-term travelers.

People who have permanent jobs, homes and savings were advised to put through their consulates. No one will be able to predict the course of this epidemic in March, nor will it affect his life. Six months later, many still have secure incomes and homes, while others have had their lives ruined.

For Stephen Spencer in Abu Dhabi, returning to Australia in March meant quitting his job, rooting out his children’s education and leaving his home – on the other hand, nothing was safe. Spencer and his wife Kate chose the most stable option for their children, which was to run it in Abu Dhabi.

Several months later, Spencer lost her job and is now struggling to get her family home. As a sponsor of his wife and teenagers, once he cancels his visa, an act he must do before he leaves, he will only have 30 days to leave the country.

“If we are unable to board a flight to Australia, we effectively live as refugees, have no legal right to stay in the UAE and a homeland that will not allow us to return,” he said. “I can’t believe how quickly the Australian government left its citizens abroad.”

It’s a story sold by a lot of people stuck.

Sarah Tasneem lived in Canada when the invisible enemy brought the world into hibernation. She had a stable job and was in the process of becoming permanent. However, the Canadian government rejected his application in June, resulting in the loss of employment. She is losing money now and is unable to work while fighting to get home.

“I am worried that I will eventually face deportation,” Tasnim said. “I’m running out of time.”

She has been advised by her embassy to take money from her retirement fund. This one option was made available to all Austral Australians earlier that year, although it is not the one she feels comfortable with.

“I think they forgot about us.”

For others, it was not the stability that caused them to stay abroad, but the lack of options.

For Emily Altamira, flight caps are the latest hurdle in bidding to return home in six months. Altamira was visiting family in Peru when international borders began to close.

Commercial flights to Australia from the region were canceled, and he was unable to board a home flight after his uncle contracted a coronavirus. Since her recovery, she has since been trying to travel to Australia via the United States, but has failed to get a ticket due to caps.

“He’s like them [the government] “We forgot,” Altamirano said.

Carmella’s Siampa also feels she’s left to fend for herself. Late last year, she traveled to Italy with her youngest son to care for her mother Rosa, who was diagnosed with cancer. Her husband and eldest son stayed in Australia.

Refusing to keep her mother on her death bed, Siampa has lived in Italy since the beginning of the epidemic. Last month, her mother passed away and Simpa was unable to reunite with her family due to a subsequent flight cap.

“My son told me to try to go to Australia by boat, and I really saw if I could travel by cargo ship,” Simpa described the frustration of returning home.

The price of returning home is tagged

For some, returning to Australia means leaving loved ones behind.

Brooke Saward, an Australian Australian expat in South Africa, says he saw the Australian Australian passport as a four-leaf clover. But now the kangaroo and the emu coat of arms is proving to be a curse.

With work dried up and excessive visas, she is trying to return home from Cape Town. Her departure means she will leave her South African boyfriend, should be uncertain when he sees her again.

“He landed on a decision about where I needed to be, not where I needed to be,” Savard explained.

“This unfamiliar feeling … when you can get your family home, when you can get income again, when you can get health care … is enough to keep you up every night.”

While the lemon of love is an intangible loss, the price tag to return home is very tangible.

For Saward, prices for domestic flights start at 12,000 AUD (approximately US 8 8,650), 12 times the normal one-way ticket from Johannesburg to Sydney.

Due to unavailability of commercial flights, he booked a chartered flight, which was consequently rejected by the Australian Australian Government. Simply put, many Australian Australians expressed the need to come home from South Africa.

Out of the options, Savard looked to go to New Zealand and rent a private jet in Australia. The option was approved by the Australian government, although New Zealand, which also has strict travel measures, denied transit visas.

It is one of the many examples that lead Austral Australians trapped to believe that the rich are being preferred over the disabled.

In early September, the Australian Australian government announced an off-loan of AU 2,000 AUD for individuals stranded abroad to book economy-class tickets. For many unemployed travel expenses it fails to drop not only a drop in the water, but also the mark of current reality.

Many of those trapped have told CNN that it is currently almost impossible to get home on an economy class ticket. Airlines are preferring business class tickets due to their financial viability to carry about 20 passengers. Keep in mind, on top of business class prices, an additional, 3,000 AUD mandatory hotel quarantine fee comes on arrival.

Since the outbreak began, Qatar Airways has been at the forefront of returning to Austral Australia, after all international flights were intercepted by Australia’s national airline, Qantas.

Last week, Qatar Airways called on the Australian government to increase caps, arguing that the airlines were not financially viable to operate with just below 0%.

“Too little, too late”

With the existing caps until October 24, Prime Minister Morris has acknowledged the need to raise them but has not yet provided a way forward. Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday he wanted to “ensure that every Australian Australian who wants to come home comes home by Christmas”. It promises that many who are trapped in it will be too late.

Carol Thompson says her family has been devastated after months of trying to get her 21-year-old son home from the United Kingdom, which is now under extreme stress.

He said, ‘I am desperate to get my son home.’

“Living in a global epidemic is enough to challenge a person’s mental health, let alone trapped in a foreign country,” Savard reiterated Thmpson’s pressure.

Meanwhile, now the backlog of flying flights has made a long way ahead for foreign countries like Carol Shank.

“I am aware that flights to Dubai are already being canceled in January,” said Shank, who is currently stuck in Oman. “He won’t give us any hope of returning home any time soon.”

CNN has requested comments from Morrison and other government officials. However, they did not respond at the time of publication.