The Washington Post - USA (2020-12-11)

A10 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11 , 2020

The World

CANADA

2 held in China not put

on trial, embassy says

C anada said Thursday that it
has confirmed with China that two
Canadians held for two years in
China in a case tied to a Huawei
executive have not been put on
trial, contrary to remarks by a
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
Former Canadian diplomat
Michael Kovrig and businessman
Michael Spavor have been
confined by China since Dec. 10,
2018, just days after Canada
detained Meng Wanzhou, the
Huawei executive and daughter of
the founder of the Chinese
telecommunications giant.
Asked about the Canadians at a
briefing on Thursday, Chinese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokeswoman Hua Chunying said
the two had been “arrested,
indicted and tried,” in what seemed

to be the first public assertion that

they had been brought to court.

Hua gave no details.

Canada’s Global Affairs agency

issued a statement later that

Canadian Embassy officials in

Beijing had spoken with the

ministry, which confirmed that

the men had not gone on trial.

Chinese officials “confirmed that

the confusion was caused by an

inaccurate characterization of the

process made by the Chinese MFA

spokesperson,” the statement said.

Canada detained Meng at the

request of the United States, which

is seeking her extradition to face

fraud charges.

— Associated Press

LEBANON

Caretaker premier

charged in port blast

The prosecutor probing the

August port explosion in Beirut

filed charges on Thursday against

the caretaker prime minister and

three former ministers, Lebanon’s

official news agency said.

The four are the most senior

figures indicted in the

investigation, which is being

conducted in secrecy. Hassan Diab

and t he others were charged with

carelessness and negligence

leading to death over the Aug. 4

blast, which killed more than 200

people and injured thousands.

The blast was caused by the

ignition of a large stockpile of

explosive material that had been

stored at the port for six years,

with the knowledge of top security

officials and politicians, who did

nothing about it.

Since the shipment of

ammonium nitrate arrived in

Lebanon in late 2013, four prime

ministers have been in office. It

was not clear why the prosecutor

singled out Diab, who was prime

minister for less than a year while

the nitrate was improperly stored

at a p ort warehouse.

Diab resigned a few days after

the blast and has continued to

function in a caretaker capacity.

— Associated Press

CHINA

U.S. officials’ travel to

Hong Kong restricted

C hina is imposing restrictions

on travel to Hong Kong by some

U.S. of ficials and others in

retaliation for similar measures

imposed on Chinese officials by

Washington, the Foreign Ministry

said Thursday.

U.S. diplomatic passport

holders visiting Hong Kong and

nearby Macao will temporarily not

receive visa-free entry privileges,

spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

U.S. administration officials,

congressional staffers, employees

of nongovernmental groups and

their immediate family members

will face “reciprocal sanctions,”

Hua said.

She was apparently referring to

U.S. sanctions that bar certain

Chinese and Hong Kong officials

from traveling to the United States

or having dealings with the U.S.

financial system over their roles in

the imposition of a sweeping

national security law this summer

that ushered in a crackdown on

free speech and opposition

political activity in Hong Kong.

Hua said the travel move was

taken “given that the U.S. side is

using the Hong Kong issue to

seriously interfere in China’s

internal affairs and undermine

China’s core interests.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

has castigated China on an almost

daily basis over its policies.

— Associated Press

Libya’s east-based forces release

Turkish vessel: Forces loyal to a

renegade commander who rules

the eastern half of Libya said they

have released a Turkish-owned

vessel seized last week, a

spokesman said. The vessel was let

go after local officials questioned

crew members and had them pay a

fine, the spokesman wrote on his

official Facebook page. Turkey is

the main supporter of the rivals of

the eastern forces, the U.N.-backed

administration in western Libya.

Spanish state takes over

Franco’s palace: The Spanish

state took over former dictator

Francisco Franco’s summer palace

and evicted his heirs as pa rt of the

leftist government’s efforts to erase

the legacy of his rule. The move

followed the removal of his

remains from a mausoleum l ast

year and other initiatives by

various leftist governments since

his 1975 death to get rid of

dictatorship-era symbols.

— From news services

DIGEST

BY A. ODYSSEUS PATRICK

sydney — Carrying their infant
son, David and Kate Jeffries trav-
eled from their home in Perth,
Western Australia, to a small
town in central Canada on
Feb. 26 to care for his elderly
mother, who had been diagnosed
with ovarian cancer.
They had heard of a mysteri-
ous coronavirus emerging from
China but weren’t too worried.
Canada had reported only 12
cases, and the family was sched-
uled to fly home four weeks later.
Today, the Jeffries are stuck in
a rented house near Winnipeg,
unable to return to Perth because
of draconian Australian entry
restrictions that have stranded
tens of thousands of Australian
citizens and residents overseas.
As a g roup, they form part of
an unexpected phenomenon of
the pandemic: displaced people
of the developed world. And for
Australians overseas or with
loved ones abroad, the tyranny of
distance — a largely bygone con-
cern conquered by jet travel — is
once again very real.
“We don’t w ant to bring covid
back to our country, but we have
a right to return,” David Jeffries
said in a Zoom call from his living
room in Portage la Prairie, Mani-
toba. “Where it has really started
to affect us is the insecurity. We
are always leaving, but we have
never left.”
There is no authoritative fig-
ure on how many people have
been stranded as a result of
restrictions that countries have
imposed during the pandemic. In
late March, more than 50,
Americans were stuck overseas
when cross-border travel almost
ceased, U.S. officials said at the
time.
Australia’s situation is ex-
treme, though. The island conti-
nent has one of the strictest
border closures — residents need
special permission to leave, and
only citizens, residents and a few
other select groups have been
allowed in since March 20. Arriv-
als are limited to about 8,000 a
week and they must isolate in a
hotel for 14 days at their own
expense.
Besides allowing entry to trav-
elers from New Zealand, the
country has largely sealed itself
off. In January, about 2.3 million
people came to Australia. By
September, the figure was 16,720.
A similar collapse in travel has
occurred across Asia, where re-
strictions are tougher than in the
United States and Europe,
though without Australia’s tight
quarantine caps. Visitors to Ja-
pan fell to 13,700 in September
from 2.7 million in January; to
64,000 from 1.3 million in South
Korea over the same period; and
to 13,800 from 2 million in Viet-
nam, according to CEIC Data, a
research company.

‘Close to unreasonable’

This week Australia’s most
populous state, New South
Wales, allowed sports stadiums
to operate at full capacity and
gyms and nightclubs to reopen.
On Saturday, the last internal
state border closure is scheduled
to end.
Scientists say allowing people
to flood home from overseas
would risk one of the world’s
most successful pandemic re-
sponses.
“There is no justification for
rushing it and having an inferior
quarantine system,” said John
Kaldor, an epidemiologist at the
University of New South Wales.
“It is the quarantine system that
has allowed us to go back to a
semi-normal state.”
The reluctance to risk those
gains means there aren’t any-
where near enough quarantine
spots to meet demand. But some
actors, wealthy business people

and professional sports teams

have received preferential treat-

ment, while others have been

forced to wait.

With some Australia-bound

planes near-empty because of

quarantine caps, passengers have

said that airlines have encour-

aged them to buy first- or busi-

ness-class seats, which can cost

$15,000 from North America or

Europe, to maximize chances of

repatriation.

When they arrive, travelers are

escorted under police or military

guard to sealed hotels, where

they are not allowed to leave their

rooms.

“I really do think that the

situation is getting pretty dire

and there is a case to be made

that individuals’ rights have been

violated,” said Laura A. Dickin-

son, a professor at George Wash-

ington University Law School

who specializes in human rights

and national security.

“We’ve seen it’s possible for

people to come in through quar-

antine. If the state is not provid-

ing adequate facilities for people

to do that, instead of closing the

border, that is getting close to

unreasonable.”

Separation anxiety

In theory, stranded Austra-

lians could appeal to the United

Nations for help. In 1980, Aus-

tralia ratified the International

Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights, which guarantees citizens

the right to enter their own

countries.

The U.N. Human Rights Com-

mittee, which is chaired by an

Egyptian diplomat, can decide on

complaints brought under the

treaty. The process is slow, and

there is no sign that anyone

intends to use it against the

Australian government, which

has shifted blame to state govern-

ments, which have to agree on

the number of quarantine slots

available.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison

said in October that he wanted to

get the stranded Australians

home by Christmas.

Barring a dramatic change,

that is extremely unlikely. On

Nov. 26, officials told a parlia-

mentary committee that the

number of people waiting to

return had doubled to 36,

since September.

“It is a cup that keeps filling up

every time we get someone

home,” Morrison said on Nov. 12.

The restrictions are particular-

ly painful for families separated

by the pandemic.

In February, Madhu Jaggi, a

single 61-year-old who has two

adult children in Adelaide, flew

to India for three weeks to renew

her visa, which had been issued

to her as the parent of an Austral-

ian citizen and resident.

Waiting in India, her visa ex-

pired. She then got a visitor visa,

which also expired. She said she

has applied 20 times on compas-

sionate grounds for permission

to enter Australia and h as been

denied every time. In Ahmeda-

bad, she regularly pleads with

Australia’s diplomatic represen-

tatives in India for help, fruitless-

ly.

“I am alone here and you can

understand my emotional and

mental stress,” Jaggi said in an

email.

‘They don’t want us back’

In Canada, the Jeffries family

watched closely as the pandemic

began to spread. The couple and

their son, Mitchell, were booked

to fly home March 29. But on

March 17, Australia’s government

advised residents to return im-

mediately. A day later, Canada’s

border with the United States

closed. The Jeffries’ Air Canada

flights were canceled. They tried,

and failed, to get on flights in

April.

Accepting they could be stuck

for a while, they moved out of

David’s mother’s house into a

rented accommodation and tried

to enjoy the brief Canadian sum-

mer.

On Nov. 12, the provincial gov-

ernment imposed what it calls

“code red” restrictions. Now, the

Jeffries are not allowed to leave

the house to see David’s mother,

who lives a couple of blocks away.

Although they are legally al-

lowed to return home, the risks

are considerable — and exacer-

bated by the suspension of non-

stop Canada-Australia flights.

David Jeffries remains a Cana-

dian citizen, though he has been

a permanent resident of Aus-

tralia for 20 years. But his Aus-

tralian wife’s and son’s Canadian

tourist visas have expired.

If they try to reach Australia

via the United States or Middle

East, and aren’t allowed to board

a connecting flight to Sydney or

Perth, the Jeffries fear they could

become trapped in limbo in the

United Arab Emirates, or a pan-

demic hot spot like Los Angeles.

Kate Jeffries needs to get home

before her maternity leave runs

out in February, or she will lose

her job at a mining company,

according to her husband, who is

working remotely for a Perth

software firm.

“Getting stuck days or weeks at

an airport would be our worst

nightmare,” he said.

What has hurt more than al-

most anything else is the re-

sponse of some Australians, ac-

cording to David Jeffries. “Social

media is filled with comments

from Australians telling us to

‘stay away,’ that ‘it’s your fault

you’re stuck,’ ” he said.

Victoria state resumed accept-

ing international arrivals on

Monday, bolstering quarantine

capacity. Yet other states are re-

luctant to take more people, fear-

ing they will be blamed for any

outbreak.

Despite the plight of those

caught overseas, there is little

domestic pressure to relax the

borders.

The last coronavirus case diag-

nosed in the community in Aus-

tralia was a cleaner, on Dec. 3,

who works in a hotel where

travelers from overseas are

locked in their rooms. Among

those in quarantine, 62 cases

were identified over the past

week — cases that policymakers

say illustrate the danger of repa-

triating more citizens and resi-

dents.

“We’re considered lepers,” Jef-

fries said. “They don’t want us

back.”

[email protected]

A continent’s divide

Australia has largely tamed the virus, but overseas residents

struggle to get home because of severe entry restrictions

FAMILY PHOTO

ASANKA RATNAYAKE/GETTY IMAGES

TOP: David, Kate and Mitchell Jeffries, like tens of thousands of other Australians, are stuck overseas because of

strict border closures. ABOVE: Victoria state resumed accepting international arrivals on Monday.