The federal government appears poised to lift the India travel ban next weekend and restart repatriation flights soon after.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said leaders fully expect the ban to end on May 15 and the federal cabinet s national security committee spent Thursday afternoon discussing a plan to restart repatriation flights from that date.
Anyone who has been in India in the past 14 days is currently banned from entering Australia and breaches are punishable under the Biosecurity Act by fines of up to $66,000 or five years jail.
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Foreign Minister Marise Payne at a G7 gathering of foreign ministers in London.(High Commissioner for Australia to the UK)
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Raja s family are not allowed to come back to their lives in Melbourne.(Supplied)
His family haven t even attempted to get a flight, as their PR application is not finalised, so they need an exemption to return.
That s despite his son being born here and the couple being married.
It has been refused.
He said the family s mental health is suffering, and his daughter is missing school.
He is too upset to sleep in the couple s bed, so lies on the couch every night with his dog. I feel helpless, he said. A lot of us immigrants come to Australia in search of a better future. Some amount of support would be good.