Sydney – You cry and lie in each other’s arms: flowers and tears of joy after almost 600 days of closure due to the corona pandemic! Australia has reopened its borders.
Touching scenes broke out at Sydney airport on Monday when relatives were finally able to hug their arriving family members again.
Machines from Los Angeles, Singapore and Tokyo landed in SydneyPhoto: SAEED KHAN / AFP
However, the opening mainly only applies to Australians and not to all parts of the country.
Australia had almost completely closed its borders on March 20, 2020 due to the corona pandemic. Local citizens were also affected. Families were separated, tens of thousands of Australians stranded abroad. Only a few were granted entry permits and then had to pay thousands of dollars for a 14-day quarantine stay in a hotel.
“Today some of the magic has returned to our arrival lobbies,” said Airport General Manager Geoff Culbert. Grandparents could have seen their grandchildren for the first time, families were reunitedPhoto: SAEED KHAN / AFP
Sometimes in tears, some of them finally took four-legged family members into their arms againPhoto: SAEED KHAN / AFP
For the past 19 months, Australians have only been allowed to travel abroad with permission. Families were separated, tens of thousands of Australians stranded abroadPhoto: SAEED KHAN / AFP
Some family members see each other for the first time, some for the last time Photo: SAEED KHAN / AFP
Only a few received an entry permit and then had to pay thousands of dollars and be in hotel quarantine for 14 daysPhoto: SAEED KHAN / AFP
These requirements have now been completely lifted for Sydney and Melbourne, and vaccinated Australians have been able to enter and leave the country since Monday without having to be quarantined. Many could hardly wait: shortly after sunrise, the first sleepy passengers streamed into the arrival hall of Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney.
Julie Choo, who came from the UK to visit her sick mother in the hospital, said she had to hold back tears upon landing. “I can’t wait to hold my mother’s hand,” she said. Tim Turner was also delighted to see his son again after more than a year. The arrival in Sydney was simply “wonderful, wonderful,” he said, visibly moved.
For some returnees, however, the reopening of the borders comes painfully late.
Lucinda Botlero, for example, had not seen her family for four years and tried unsuccessfully for a year and a half to get an entry permit. Her father died last week. At least she was at his funeral now, she consoled herself.
Australia (like New Zealand) has long pursued a zero Covid strategy and kept the external borders largely closed to international travel. Ultimately, however, both countries had to admit that even this drastic strategy did not have the desired effect in the long termPhoto: SAEED KHAN / AFP
Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke of a “great day for Australia”. On the online network Facebook, he wrote that Australia was now “ready to go”.Photo: SAEED KHAN / AFP
Airport boss Culbert: “All these scenes were missing for far too long!”Photo: SAEED KHAN / AFP
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this day”
Other Australians took advantage of the easing to finally be able to leave the country. One of them was Abhi Bajaj, whose family lives in the United States. He is happy to finally be able to celebrate Christmas with his family again after two years of separation, the 35-year-old told the AFP news agency before taking his flight to Los Angeles.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke of a “great day for Australia”. On the online network Facebook, he wrote that Australia was now “ready to go”. The Australian airline Qantas, whose planes had to remain largely on the ground for more than 18 months, was also happy. Qantas boss Alan Joyce called it wonderfully “that Australians can meet up with their loved ones again after so long.”
However, over a million foreign residents remain in Australia without the opportunity to see their friends and relatives in other countries. The changed travel rules mostly only apply to Australians. And some Australian states with comparatively lower vaccination rates are sticking to the strict and expensive quarantine rules anyway.