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Australia gov’t slammed for ‘outrageous’ ban on Aussies returning from India
The Australia government is facing heavy pressure to overturn draconian measures to ‘criminalise’ Australians from returning home from India.
Australia has banned all direct flights from India.
Australia has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home, with potentially up to five years’ imprisonment and more than $60,000 in fines for those that a find a way back through indirect routes.
It has been slammed by human rights groups which say it makes a mockery of citizenship and the spirit of human rights.
"This is an outrageous response. Australians have a right of return to their own country," Human Rights Watch’s Australia director, Elaine Pearson said.
"The government should be looking for ways to safely quarantine Australians returning from India, instead of focusing their efforts on prison sentences and harsh punishments."
There are an estimated 9,000 Australians stranded in India.
"The government does not make these decisions lightly. However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected," said Health Minister Greg Hunt.
Neela Janakiramanan, an Australian surgeon with family in India called it ‘racist.’
"We are being treated different than people from other countries who have had similar waves of infection like the US, the UK and Europe. It is very hard to feel anything other than targeted as an ethnic group."
The government said it will reconsider the restrictions on 15 May.
On Saturday, India recorded a massive 400,000 new cases
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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