Thousands of Australians caught up in India’s sweeping lockdown are pleading for government help to get home

This article is more than 5 months old

This article is more than 5 months old

Thousands of Australians caught by India’s dramatic nationwide shutdown say they face running out of food and water or being evicted from accommodation, as 1.3 billion people across world’s second-most populous nation are ordered to stay indoors.

One state leader, Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, warned if the lockdown was not obeyed, he would order police to shoot-on-sight those who went outside.

Thousands of Australian tourists, expatriate workers and “overseas citizens of India” have been stranded by India’s dramatic shutdown, the largest lockdown the world has seen to arrest the Covid-19 pandemic.

“There will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes … forget what going out means,” Indian prime minister Narendra Modi told the nation.

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There are no commercial flights permitted in or out of India until at least 15 April, and Australians fear they will not be able to get home without a government-sponsored repatriation flight, which are being allowed by India’s government.

Australian Jai Houltham is stranded in Goa on India’s west coast. He has been moved on from two hotels that were closed down by police and fears he may be forced out again, with nowhere left to go.

“We are now at the end of the fifth day of a total lockdown, police roam the streets with lathis [bamboo poles used to enforce crowd control], ensuring everyone stays inside, many unable to get supplies,” Houltham said.

“The lockdown has been extended to the 14th of April, and there is talk of it being extended for three months, with currently no option for Australians to get home.”

Houltham said many tourists had tried to get back to Australia when the government first called for citizens to return, but had faced unannounced flight cancellations, sudden border closures or restrictions on transiting through international airports.

“Now with complete lockdown, accommodation closing and people being left on the streets, and being unable to access food, water or medicines, people have had enough and are desperate for the Australian government to step in.”

The lockdown will impact harshly upon millions of Indian citizens. The country has a relatively low number of Covid-19 cases, with 722 infections and 16 deaths so far. But most states have recorded cases, and there are suspicions the number of infections is incorrect because testing is not widespread.

The government is desperate to avoid community transmission in a massive country where tens of millions live in densely populated communities with poor sanitation and limited healthcare access. India has only one isolation bed per 84,000 people and the whole country has only 40,000 ventilators for acute cases.

But the lockdown, too, will be especially difficult for the tens of millions of Indians who rely on daily wagework – from rickshaw driving to construction to food vending – to survive.

Houltham said many Australians stranded in India were starting to run out of money, particular with rising accommodation and food costs.

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“The Indian government has said it would allow government assisted flights on commercial carriers to transport nationals back to their home country during the lockdown, and many countries including the UK, Germany, France and Russia are in the process of doing so.”

Australia’s High Commission in New Delhi has told citizens “we would encourage you all to stay indoors and avoid any crowded place. Please note there are no evacuation plans yet declared by the Australian government for Australians in India”.

“If your situation is, or becomes life-threatening, or you have serious concerns for your welfare (eg cannot find any accommodation whatsoever, or any food, or essential medications), please don’t hesitate to contact us,” consular officials have said.

Around the world, some flights back to Australia are being organised.

A commercial charter, organised by Chimu Adventures with Australian government assistance, will fly stranded Australians out of Peru, likely on Sunday. The over-subscribed flight will retrieve passengers from Cusco and Lima.

However, many Australians stuck in Peru could not afford the $5000 being asked for an economy class seat on the flight or missed out on booking, while others are in remote parts of the locked-down country where all internal movement has been banned, putting airports out of reach.

Another flight is bringing Australians home from Montevideo, collecting passengers from the Ocean Atlantic cruise ship, at port in that city, as well as other Australians in Uruguay.

Some Australians were able to leave Bolivia in recent days on commercial flights, Australia’s ambassador Diana Nelson said, as the country has further tightened its lockdown restrictions.

Nelson said adults were only allowed to leave their accommodation once a week, and only to go shopping between 7am and midday.

Diana Nelson (@embauslima) #Update #Bolivia

An update on the current situation in Bolivia and our efforts to return Australians home safely. pic.twitter.com/6vssl6u7RY

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, said her department continues to plan for further repatriation flights all over the world, and is in talks with Qantas and Virgin about running “non-scheduled” flights to cities around the world from where stranded Australians are trying to get home.

“We do not have plans for assisted departures, such as those conducted to the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, Wuhan in China, and Japan.”

But the government has conceded many Australians could be stranded overseas for the duration of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

“It may be necessary for some Australians to stay where they are overseas … given the unprecedented scale of the global interruption to travel, the options outlined will not return all Australians travellers home.”



