Since the beginning of February, Han* says her life “has been messed up.”
The 28-year-old was due to return to Australia two weeks after arriving in China to celebrate the new year with her family.
Since Australia announced its travel ban, her life has been on hold.
“It doesn’t matter that I have been living in Australia, it doesn’t matter if I have a job, that I have been studying there, it just doesn’t matter. All of a sudden I can’t return.”
The Chinese student has been living in Australia for six years and has been studying management at a Melbourne college.
People wearing protective face masks at Brisbane International Airport. Source: AAP
While she understands the premise of the travel ban, Han had hoped the Australian government would show discretion to those who have built a life in the country.
“It was disappointing to hear what Australia is doing to people like me and I feel abandoned,” she told SBS Dateline.
“I had planned to apply for permanent residency in Australia, but now I feel uncertain.
“Honestly I had been enjoying my time in Australia. I have great friends, I’m loving my life there.
“But ever since this happened I had been thinking ... it doesn’t matter how I feel about Australia, this is Australia telling me I am an outsider.”
The travel ban’s ripple effect
On February 1 the Australian government announced a ban on those travelling from China to Australia, with the exception of permanent residents, citizens, their close relatives and diplomats. The restrictions were due to expire on Saturday, before Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the ban would be extended for another seven days until at least February 22.
Officials and politicians maintain that they are taking the advice from medical experts and Professor Brendan Murphy, the Commonwealth’s Chief Medical Officer.
“The government has been clear it will take medical advice,” said education minister Dan Tehan, on ABC’s Radio National on Monday morning.
“That medical advice is that there should be a travel ban in place.”
The Group of Eight (Go8) represents Australia’s eight largest universities and claims nearly two thirds of their 105,833 Chinese international students are affected by the travel ban.
Australian universities have been scrambling to organise deferral and study options for students, who in-turn are counting the cost of delayed returns
A doctor takes care of patient in an isolation ward in a hospital in Yinan County, in east China's Shandong province. Source: AAP
Han may have to defer her studies this semester and continues to pay rent for her now empty Melbourne apartment. The travel ban may leave her $3000 out of pocket.
The student said she is fortunate to be able to work remotely for her Melbourne-based job, but due to the Chinese government’s internet censorship, accessing the necessary websites to complete her work is only possible with a virtual private network (VPN).
“The VPN I’m using on my PC only works in the morning, so I’m just working five hours a day. I’m not working at full capacity,” she said.
“With Australia banning me from going back and China banning me from all these websites, I feel like I’m stuck in the middle.”
Censorship an issue
Restrictions on the internet is a concern for many students in stuck China hoping to start their semester one courses online.
Twenty-three year old Ian Zheng has been studying in Australia for seven years, finishing highschool and beginning a degree at Perth’s Curtin University.
His university is organising options to study online, but like Han, he is not able to easily access Australian websites.
“It’s hard for us to study online because China has banned Google, Facebook and all those things,” he said.
Chinese Australians raise grave concern over increasing discrimination and xenophobia over the coronavirus outbreak. Source: AAP Image/ Joel Carrett
‘We are not dangerous, we just want to study.’
Ian’s family lives in north-eastern part of China which is less affected by the coronavirus.
“There are a lot of Chinese students in China, who have just stayed at home for the last month, they are healthy and they just want to go back to Australia to study semester one.”
Like Han, Ian is paying rent for an apartment he is not using.
Supermarket shelves empty in China as infection rates increase. Source: Supplied
“I understand Australia the government is doing this for safety,” he said.
“There are a lot of Chinese students in China, who have just stayed at home for the last month, they are healthy and they just want to go back to Australia to study semester one.
“We are not dangerous, we just want to study. We are healthy, we can do self isolation.”
Unlike Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom do not have a travel ban for Chinese students.
Nearly a third of Australia's international students stuck in China because of the Federal Government's coronavirus travel ban are considering studying in another country, according to a survey by the Education Consultants Association of Australia.
It said they would enrol in another country if they could not be in Australia for the first semester of 2020.
‘Please reconsider’
Han is in Shenzhen city in Guangdong province, the region with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus outside of Hebei province.
“We are home all day, everyday, literally. One of us goes out once a week to stock up on supplies.”
Han lives in a gated community which she says is very strict on who is entering and exiting. She is desperate to return to her life in Australia.
“I am extremely, extremely bored,” she said.
“Please reconsider Chinese students and Chinese workers back in Australia.”
*Name has been changed at the request of interviewee
