Highlights:
- Selbin Sebastian is stuck in India with his two daughters while his wife is in Australia.
- Australia has capped international arrivals to 4000 per week.
- Many have appealed to the government to lift the caps.
Selbin Sebastian had planned his journey to Australia well in advance. After working for almost 14 years in the UAE, Selbin, an Indian citizen, applied for Australian PR. His wife, a nurse by profession, was the primary applicant. She received it last year, and then the family made a calculated move.
“My wife moved to Australia in August of last year. She is in Gladstone (Queensland),” said Mr Sebastian, who has been stuck in Kochi, India since January this year.
Source: Supplied by Selbin Sebastian
"When my wife was settled in Gladstone, I left my job in the UAE. I had not received my Australian visa yet, so I came to India with my kids," he told SBS Hindi.
Listen to Selbin's story in his own words:
Mr Sebastian and his two daughters, aged seven and four, were waiting for the visa to travel to Australia when India and Australia closed their borders due to COVID-19 pandemic.
And since then, the family has been living in two different countries. Mr Sebastian got the visa in April, but there were no flights and when there were flights, booking a ticket was a mammoth task.
Source: Supplied by Selbin Sebastian
“I tried so many times," he said. "I have tried so many airlines. I keep looking for flights via Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka. Still no luck.”
Around 9,000 people have travelled from India to Australia via select flights since the border closure. However, thousands are still waiting.
Australia has capped international arrivals to 4000 per week. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the cap would not be lifted.
He told the reporters last week, “Right now when you are looking to manage the risk in quarantine, I agree, and that’s why I am not lifting the caps currently as they exist on airports at the moment, in our major capital city centres.”
People stuck in India are posting their pictures on twitter and other social media platforms requesting the Australian government to ‘let them in’.
Selbin Sebastian’s daughters have not seen their mother for over a year now.
“It has been one year now. They keep asking me. I had never imagined in my dreams we would live apart like this,” says Mr Sebastian.
