The challenge of 'COVID-19 free' Australia: international travel restrictions and stranded citizens

This paper uses Australia as a case study to analyse restrictions on international movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions on inbound and outbound travel have been a key tool deployed by governments across the globe to suppress the COVID-19 pandemic. We use 'COVID zero' Australia as a case study to assess an extreme response to restricting international movement. We look at the recent complaint launched before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The action was raised with the support of a group of Australian citizens stranded abroad with the assistance of the expert in Australian constitutional law who is the second author of this paper. We argue that the measures implemented by Australian governments to effectively eliminate COVID-19 domestically have provided insufficient consideration of, and alternatives to, the current system's failure to facilitate essential international travel. For this reason, Australia's framework for restricting international movement lacks proportionality and necessity from the perspective of human rights and freedoms. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of International Journal of Human Rights is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Locked in and locked out: A migrant woman's reflection on life in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic

In this paper I offer personal reflections on life in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. I reflect on what it means for a migrant woman with a complex traumatic past to be indefinitely stranded. I also draw on experiences of other migrant women living in Australia during the pandemic. The reflection brings attention to personal narratives that contribute to the growing importance of women's herstories. With this narrative, I want to pay tribute to migrant women's lives and by using my own experiences as a case study to reflect on personal struggles that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered. The issues of trauma, forcible separation and economic migration will be explored.