SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday that citizens stranded in COVID-ravaged India should be able to start returning home from May 15 after repatriation flights resume.
Australian authorities last week banned all travellers from India, including its own citizens, from entering the country due to the surge in COVID-19 cases there, and warned offenders could be prosecuted and penalised.
The policy drew heavy criticism from lawmakers, expatriates and the Indian diaspora.
“The original decision to put in place that biosecurity order until 15 May has proved very effective and it will run its full course until that time without any change,” Morrison said on Friday in the city of Newcastle, located north of Sydney.
(Reporting by Jonathan Barrett; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
