Australians Stranded In India Feel Abandoned By Government

New Delhi, May 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th May, 2021 ) :Australian Sunny Joura flew to India to see his dying father and has been stuck there for a year as his home country enforced one of the world's harshest coronavirus border controls.

The 49-year-old is among at least 9,000 Australians stuck in India -- where a record-breaking coronavirus surge has overwhelmed the healthcare system -- after his country made flying home a crime.

Joura has tried to leave on limited repatriation and commercial flights but failed, with his seats repeatedly cancelled -- most recently a day after Australia imposed a complete travel ban.

"The street that I live on -- 60 to 70 percent of households are infected with Covid. And in some cases, whole families are infected," Joura told AFP in New Delhi, where he is holed up in a house with his 72-year-old mother.

While many countries have imposed travel restrictions on India, their citizens are still allowed to return home.

Australia however banned all travellers from the South Asian nation until May 15 and threatened jail time and a hefty fine for those who try.

The decision was made under biosecurity laws -- famously used against Hollywood star Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard when they failed to declare their pet dogs.

After a widespread backlash, the government said Friday it would resume repatriation flights after mid-May to bring home hundreds of "vulnerable" Australians.

No decision was made on the resumption of commercial flights.

But with India's health crisis still raging, every Australian should be considered by Canberra as vulnerable, Joura said.

"It's scary. Every day, we are in a way not sure whether we're going to get it (Covid-19)," said Joura.

Infection, he added, would cause panic. "People don't get beds in hospitals. Even if they get beds, there is no oxygen at times."