Stranded – Australians overseas denied human rights

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Can I still call Australia home?

Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic period since early March 2020, the world as we know it has shifted and transformed in many ways. Australia is leading the way in reducing Covid-19 transmissions and deaths; however, it hasn’t been a win for all Australians.

Australia locked its international borders on 20 March 2020, with strict criteria to allow anyone in or out. Mandatory hotel quarantine facilities for international arrivals were introduced, along with state-by-state caps on international arrivals which are constantly changing. Today there are approximately 39,000 Australians overseas that have registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as trying to get home and over 5,000 of these are considered vulnerable.

"It's the first time in my life I haven't been proud to be Australian, to be honest"

This has caused many to question, by not allowing Australians into their home country for over a year, is Australia violating any laws?

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the first international convention after WWII to recognise the right to leave or enter one’s country. Article 13(2) states, ‘everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country’. This right was subsequently converted into a human rights obligation for countries including Australia under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1955 (ICCPR). Article 12 states, ‘no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.’ 

This right is not absolute and is subject to exceptions, including restrictions required to ensure public order, national security and public health. However, article 4 of the ICCPR states that measures taken during public emergency should only be used ‘to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation’.

Government flight caps, exorbitant flight prices, restrictions on transit countries and flight cancellations are just a few of the many factors keeping our fellow Australians from coming home. Under international human rights law, these flight caps are only reasonable if there are no other less restrictive measures that can be implemented to protect public health. Any restrictions on returning to Australia should be based on predictable legal criteria and should be proportionate to the risk faced. It’s difficult to reconcile the government’s declared importance of flight caps with the fact that 1,200 tennis players were recently allowed to fly into Melbourne for the Australian Open. Therefore, the question remains: are the indefinite border closures and flight caps a necessary and proportionate response to achieving a Covid-19 free society? Are there any other measures that could be explored?

The government needs to prove that Australians are not being arbitrarily deprived of their basic right to enter their home country, and explore other methods which can both protect the safety of those within Australia without depriving the liberty of those outside our sanctuary.

The answer is simple: increase the capacity of Australia’s quarantine facilities, insert uniform standards and get rid of the restrictive flight caps.

Come on Australia. Let’s make our people our priority.