WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Oct. 7 (US): When the daughter of Sylvia Dancos in distress called from Canada in August, Dancos immediately flew to comfort her. But now, after weeks of trying, she has no idea when she will be allowed to return to her home country of New Zealand.
This week, Dancose found herself waiting in vain behind 17,000 others in an online queue. Desperate New Zealanders are forced to return home every week or so to enter a lottery for the coveted family in quarantine hotels.
As part of its efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, New Zealand is requiring all returning citizens and residents – whether vaccinated or not – to spend 14 days in isolation in a military-run hotel, the Associated Press reports.
With demand far outstripping supply, New Zealanders are closed indefinitely, despite the right of return enshrined in New Zealand’s constitutional arrangements and international law.
The quarantine system remains in place despite the New Zealand government admitting this week that it can no longer eradicate the virus. Tight border controls, along with strict lockdowns and aggressive contact tracing, ensured that every outbreak of the virus was eliminated during the first 18 months of the pandemic.
For most of that time, people were able to live without any restrictions, go to work and fill sports grounds. Only 28 people in the country of 5 million have died from COVID-19.
But the outbreak of the more transmissible delta variant in August proved impossible to quell, especially after it spread among marginalized groups, including homeless people and gang members.
However, strict border measures remain.
For many trying to return home, it has been especially upsetting for sports stars, politicians, and other hand-picked dignitaries to slip through the system with places guaranteed when they return.
For a New Zealand citizen, it took a lawsuit before she could go home. Bergen Graham unexpectedly found out she was pregnant in March while living in El Salvador.
Doctors told Graham that her pregnancy was considered high-risk because of her blood type. She submitted six applications for an emergency place in quarantine, but were rejected each time.
When Graham and her husband tried to return, they traveled to Los Angeles, where they lined up with illegal immigrants at community clinics to get medical care.
They were worried that they would be deported from the United States when their right to a visa waiver expired, or that a delay could prevent them from traveling home because the pregnancy would progress too far. They were afraid they would get stuck with a six-digit medical bill if they gave birth to the baby in the US
“It was inhumane. Everyone changes situation, everyone has the right to go home,” Graham said. “I felt that right was taken away. It was the strangest feeling.”
A London-based group called Grounded Kiwis helped her file a lawsuit in New Zealand to demand a judicial review of her case. Within 48 hours, the government took a turn and last month offered her an emergency place in quarantine.
Graham, who is due to have her baby in mid-November, said she was incredibly relieved to be back home in Auckland, but still pissed off at what she endured.
One of the founders of Grounded Kiwis is Alexandra Burt, a 29-year-old New Zealand lawyer based in London, who was concerned about people’s rights being violated.
Burt found time to research when she contracted COVID-19 herself in July and took sick leave from work. She said New Zealand’s quarantine system was broken and needed to change.
Burt said many New Zealanders stranded abroad have been disappointed by the attitude of those who have returned home, and some appear to have little sympathy for their plight and are content with the border remaining tightly closed.
“People feel completely abandoned by the New Zealand government and public,” Burt said.
The New Zealand government says the quarantine system will be vital in its response to the virus for the foreseeable future.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hepkins recently announced plans to add an additional quarantine hotel and start a small trial allowing some fully vaccinated people to isolate at home.
“We want to assure kiwis abroad that we are doing everything we can to facilitate their safe return,” he said.
But the system may already have caused a symbolic loss. Amazon Studios filmed season one of a television production based on “The Lord of the Rings” in New Zealand, which has a long association with JRR Tolkien’s books.
However, Amazon said it decided to film the second season in Britain to expand its production there. However, several people locally have pointed out the problems Amazon has in getting cast and crew in and out of New Zealand.
For Dancose, the wait to go home continues. When her 23-year-old daughter, who studies in Montreal and has a history of depression, reached out to her in August, Dancose had just accepted a new job. But she knew she needed to be by her daughter’s side.
“When you’re in New Zealand, the narrative is, ‘Don’t go, no matter what reasons you may have,'” Dankos said. “I have no regrets, though.”
Dancose has logged into a virtual waiting room, where a few thousand places open for returnees every week or two, often opening months into the future.
People are allotted a place at random, Dancose was about 15,000 in the queue, then 24,000 times and the last 17,000 times. Not close to getting a slot.
Currently, she is doing couch surfing in Montreal. Canadian by birth and a permanent resident of New Zealand, Dancose has connections in both countries.
Dankos said her daughter is doing much better. She said her new employer has allowed her to work remotely for the time being, although she is supposed to interact with people as part of her new job.
Dancose said she received a dual vaccination in New Zealand before leaving, and is still appalled that despite doing everything right, she is still not allowed to go home.
RAE