Daijiworld Media Network - Sydney (SD)

Sydney, May 1: The Australian government announced that citizens and residents from Australia who have been in India within 14 days of the date they plan to return home will be banned from entering the country. Those found to disobey will face fines and jails, the officials added.

This is the first time Australia has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home. The move is taken as a precautionary measure to prohibit travellers to Australia from India as the Covid cases in the country are on a rapid rise. The restrictions come into effect from May 3 and breaching the ban risks civil penalties and up to five years imprisonment, Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement.

"The government does not make these decisions lightly," Hunt said. "However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected and the number of Covid-19 cases in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level." The decision will be reconsidered on May 15.

India has seen a rapid rise in number of infections nearing 19 million as virulent new strains have combined with super spreader events such as political rallies and religious festivals.

"Indian-Australians are seeing this as a racist policy because we are being treated different than people from other countries who have had similar waves of infection like the U.S., the UK and Europe. It is very hard to feel anything other than targeted as an ethnic group."

"This is an outrageous response. Australians have a right of return to their own country," Human Rights Watch's Australia director, Elaine Pearson said in a statement.

"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."

The move to ban returnees had left over 9,000 Australians stranded in India, 650 of whom are registered as vulnerable, officials said.

Australia has all but stamped out the coronavirus after closing its borders to non-citizens and permanent residents in March 2020, recording just 29,800 cases and 910 deaths.