SYDNEY—The wave of Covid-19 sweeping India is leading some nations that have largely contained the virus to threaten their own citizens with jail time or heavy fines if they try to get home from the South Asian country.
Australia has banned travel from India because it fears positive cases would overwhelm its quarantine system, which has largely kept the country free of coronavirus until now. New Zealand last month temporarily prohibited all travelers from India before modifying the policy to allow its citizens to return.
Australia’s ban on travel from India is temporary and is due to expire on May 15, at which time the government could decide to extend it. The ban doesn’t apply to people who have been outside of India for 14 days. But those flouting the rules could face up to five years in jail or a fine of roughly $50,000.
Violators of New Zealand’s ban could also have faced fines and a jail sentence, though officials in the South Pacific country said no one breached the order.
Some legal experts and academics have said that such moves raise serious human-rights concerns and that the willingness of policy makers to restrict individual freedoms when the pandemic is largely under control domestically could set a troubling precedent.
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