For Cathy, 60, and her husband Serge, 63, this trip to New Zealand should have been "the trip of a lifetime". This was without counting the thunderous decision of the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, who sounded the general confinement with no charge. Announced on March 23, the measure took effect 48 hours later, taking everyone by surprise and causing scenes of panic. Cathy and Serge, then on the road, in the South Island, hastily confined themselves in the first Airbnb they could find.
Since then, this couple from Montlhéry (Essonne) is stuck on the other side of the world, like around 1500 other French people according to estimates, in a country that has barricaded itself. "We are taken hostage," Storm Cathy, reached this Monday by phone. “The confinement is very strict. The army mops. It's not the same atmosphere as in France, ”warns Serge.
2000 to 20,000 euros return ticket
Within two days, air, sea and rail links were closed. International flights almost completely suspended. Only Qatar Airways still provides a few rare flights with Europe, at prices between 2,000 and 20,000 euros per person, according to screenshots that we were able to consult. "It is impossible for us to buy tickets at these prices!" It is inconceivable! Joanna, stuck two hours away from Christchurch with two friends, gasps.
Floriane, she tried to flee the South Pacific archipelago before confinement with her partner Clément. “We have booked three different flights, all of which have been canceled. Obviously, we will not be reimbursed before, at best, three months. We have 25 euros left on our account, ”swallows the young Angevin, aged 26.
The couple, who had a PVT visa - which allowed them to travel and do odd jobs in the country for a year - worked in Wellington before the Prime Minister's announcement. She, in a spa, he, as a tennis coach. “With confinement, our employers thanked us. We no longer have any income, ”laments Floriane.
"We are called feverish people"
Other French people find themselves in equally critical financial situations. This is the case of Vanessa and her boyfriend, 26 and 25 years old, from Aveyron, both chefs in the restaurant industry. They too lost their jobs last Wednesday. They had to resolve to share a filthy house in Tauranga, on the northeast coast of the North Island, with four. Between promiscuity, "cockroaches", "humidity" and "poor quality carpet", this "great allergy sufferer" can hardly bear the precariousness of their situation.
Joséphine and her three friends Mathieu, Marine and Jeanne, all 22 years old, assure us that the welcome towards foreign tourists has changed with confinement. "Before, people were nice and welcoming," says the young woman, who worked on the blueberry harvest before confinement. “Now the locals treat us badly. We are called feverish people. For them, we necessarily have the coronavirus. "
After two consecutive cancellations of his return flight, Mathieu (34), who lives in Marseille, had to make up his mind to put his hand in his pocket again to return to France. Without certainty that his Qatar Airways flight, scheduled for April 4, will not be canceled like the others. " I do not have a choice. I should have gone back to work last week ”, explains this project manager in a large electronics group. “Fortunately, I have an understanding human resources manager, but the situation is getting very complicated. "
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The thirty-something, confined to Auckland (North Island) with his wife, has indeed sold out all his RTT. “I should be able to take early leave. But there is talk of my service being put on partial unemployment. If I have to take leave without pay, then I will have no income, ”he worries. Before putting things into perspective: “At least, my journey ended when containment was decreed. We had time to feast before. "
"Abandoned"
Like many French people we were able to interview from New Zealand, Paul-Antoine, 28, and his girlfriend Marine, 25, feel "abandoned". “When we turned to the embassy, we were told: if you have family, it's time to ask them for money. It's shameful, ”fumes the backpacker couple, trapped in a small hotel in Ashburton, on the South Island. “Confinement is already anxiety-provoking in itself, but in a foreign country, one is as if imprisoned. And in addition, we have to fight to get home, ”says Paul-Antoine.
Sunday, the French government had reassuring words towards its nationals shipwrecked in New Zealand. "We are mounting, since [Saturday] evening, government flights so as to have prices that are acceptable," assured on Radio J the Secretary of State for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari.
An announcement that the French that we were able to interview all received with a certain circumspection, after their multiple disappointments. "The promises commit only those who believe in them," said Paul, bitter. Requested by Le Parisien, neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the State Secretariat for Transport had followed up on this Monday afternoon.