Australia reconsiders its threat to jail its citizens from India

The Australian Prime Minister returned Tuesday, May 4, on his threat to imprison Australians who would try to flee India, ravaged by the pandemic.

Scott said.

Morrison during a media campaign.

His government decided at the end of April to suspend flights from India until May 15, when the Covid-19 pandemic in this South Asian country has reached an unprecedented level of severity.

Australia had also warned its fellow citizens on Saturday returning from India via stop-over flights that they risked five years in prison.

Read also: Australia is no longer afraid to get angry with China

Some 9,000 Australians are indeed stuck in India, including cricketers who participated in the Indian Premier League.

, tweeted the former Australian cricketer Michael Slater, stranded in the Maldives.

Morrison denied having

.

told Nine television.

, he insisted.

Read also: Australia will probably not reopen its borders in 2021

Australia closed its borders to most non-Australians in March 2020. Everyone entering its territory must observe 14 days of quarantine, which has undoubtedly helped to curb the spread of the epidemic. But this system was put to the test when the virus escaped from the quarantined areas and caused several outbreaks of contagion. The Tory prime minister is due for re-election within the next 12 months and had relied on his relatively successful handling of the pandemic to achieve victory. But the suspension of flights from India and the slow pace of vaccination could jeopardize his chances. Australia has administered 2.2 million doses of the vaccine to a population of 25 million people.