Responding to the announcement today that the Federal Government is proposing three additional quarantine facilities, Amnesty International Campaigner Joel MacKay said:
“We welcome the announcement of the proposed new quarantine facilities which will mean an extra 2,500 extra places for #StrandedAussies to come home.
“Amnesty International Australia has been consistently calling for an expanded federal quarantine system, including in our November 2020 report, Stories of the Stranded Aussies, and we welcome this development. More than 12,000 people have taken action, calling on the Prime Minister to turbo-charge his plan to bring #StrandedAussies home.
“All of the issues with the quarantine process to date have been because the facilities havenot been fit for purpose – an investment in dedicated facilities means we will be able to get more Australians home sooner.
There are approximately 35,128 Australians stranded around the world. Of those, 4,260 are identified as vulnerable by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Australians are most likely to be stranded in India, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Philippines and Thailand.
“Even with three new facilities, the current waiting list for #StrandedAussies remains at many, many months and it is only going to get longer. Many are stuck in dangerous conditions, including in countries where second and third waves of COVID-19 are hitting, and need to come home as soon as possible,” MacKay said.
“We saw the Prime Minister last week visiting the graves of his ancestors in the UK, it would be wonderful if he could expedite the new facilities so all the #StrandedAussies can return to see their living relatives.”
