Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt, in a statement made late Friday, announced that Australian residents and citizens who have been in India within 14 days of the date they plan to return home will be banned from entering Australia as of Monday and those who disobey will face fines and jail.
This is the first time that Australia by means of a temporary emergency determination, has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home.
The move is part of strict measures to stop travellers to Australia from India as it contends with a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths.
"The government does not make these decisions lightly," Hunt said.
"However, it is critical the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected and the number of Covid-19 cases in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level.”
India’s COVID death toll crossed the 2 Lakh mark this week and daily new cases have reached the world highest of 4 Lakh as the virulent new strain wreak havoc.
Neela Janakiramanan, an Australian surgeon with family in India said the decision to "criminalize" Australians returning from India was disproportionate and overly punitive.
"Indian-Australians are seeing this as a racist policy because we are being treated differently than people from other countries who have had similar waves of infection like the U.S., the UK and Europe. It is very hard to feel anything other than targeted as an ethnic group."
The government will reconsider the restrictions on May 15.