James* came to India in February for some business and was staying in a hotel in Delhi. Things were smooth for him, but suddenly India entered complete lockdown and since then he has felt unsafe in India. Even though he is an Australian, he has started feeling hostility towards him owing to his Chinese descent. Now, isolated at the hotel in Delhi, he is finding it difficult to get access to food and other basic essentials.
Like James, there are hundreds of Australians who are stranded in the subcontinent amid the sudden COVID-19 lockdown nationwide and have nowhere to go. Nearly every Australian is either facing deprivation of basic essentials or is being evicted from accommodation owing to the fear of foreigners spreading the disease among the locals. This dramatic lockdown, the largest shutdown in history, has left Australian expatriate workers and tourists stranded in the subcontinent.
The Indian government has canceled all the incoming and outgoing commercial flights till at least April 15, and this has led to a larger fear among the Australian Nationals- stuck for an indefinite time, lack of basic facilities, expiration of visa, loss of jobs, and much more.
Melbourne-based Rohan* came to India to take care of his terminally ill father. “My father passed away on the 9th of March. I organized the funeral,” he said. “I was supposed to fly back to Melbourne on the 1st of April. Air India has canceled my ticket and I have run out of prescribed medications. I have three daughters, they are missing me badly and my wife is not well and struggling to keep up with work from home and take care of our girls. I am desperate to get back to Melbourne and start my job so I can support our young family as I have run out of cash and leave.”
Even though the Australian High Commission to India Barry O’Farrell, has assured that it is their top priority to support stranded Australians in India and has encouraged people to not hesitate to approach if they have serious concerns about their welfare, the situation is dire for Australians stranded in India amid COVID-19 shutdown. According to him, teams of officials have already been disseminated across the nation. The team, he said, is reaching out to the stranded Australians and helping them with food and medical supplies.
Despite the claims made by the Australian government, it seems like the help is not reaching to every Australian after all. Adam & Jessica were advised by their local Federal Minister in Brisbane to email Marise Payne, the Minister for Foreign Affairs which they did but have not received any help yet. “We are currently isolated in a unit after being removed from 3 hotels. We were made to purchase a medical certificate so we could stay in this unit,” they said. “We have noticed when entering pharmacies they refuse to serve us being tourists/foreigners.”
But, there has been some relief among those stranded amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as the Australian government has decided to support an airlift of its citizens on private charter flights to Melbourne, organized by a group of aviation experts and expats.
Although for Australian Nationals this seems like a step closer to reaching their country, they have to pay a hefty amount to book a flight ticket on the charter plane. The private charter plane, carried nearly 440 passengers, cost around $2,000 per person.
On the other hand, several countries are arranging free flights to evacuate their citizens from India amid lockdown including Malaysia. The Malaysian government, who was in talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has taken permission for 18 special Malaysian flights to evacuate 2,833 Malaysian citizens from India. Similarly, the Canadian government has also negotiated with the Indian government for at least 6 flights to repatriate nearly 60,000 Canadians who are stranded amid India’s hard lockdown.
Traveler accounts have been collected from a Facebook group setup by Australians stranded in India, *names have been changed to protect privacy
