Operation ‘Get Hubby Home’: Sydney woman’s desperate plea for husband stuck in Singaporean airport
A Sydney woman launched operation "Get Hubby Home" after Singaporean officials detained her partner as he tried to fly to Australia amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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Two Sydney newlyweds still reeling from a week-long coronavirus international travel ban saga have vowed to use their self-isolation period to “make babies”.
Lani Verano launched operation “Get Hubby Home” when Singapore Airport authorities detained her husband Ed in response to new COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“He’s been stuck in transit at Singapore Airport for the past two days, being treated like a criminal,” she tearfully told The Daily Telegraph.
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The couple got married in December and Filipino national Ed is currently on a partnership visa, but Singaporean immigration officials stopped him from flying to Australia because they were unsure whether he could be classed as the immediate family of an Aussie citizen.
Mr Verano had tried to come home after visiting family in the Philippines last Thursday, but got stuck in a quarantine holding room as countries began shutting their borders while the spread of the deadly disease intensified.
Mr Verano turned 37 on Wednesday and his fretting wife prayed her soulmate’s birthday present could be a flight home to her.
Those prayers were answered later in the day when she received a surprise message from Mr Verano saying: “I’ve arrived.”
“I’m going to give him the biggest hug I can, and then we’re in 14 days of isolation. We’re going straight home to quarantine and make babies,” Mrs Verano said on her way to pick him up from the airport.
“I didn’t even know he was on a flight. It’s the best birthday present ever.”
All foreigner travellers were banned from entering Australia from Friday night as Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced tougher border measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Feeling helpless, Mrs Verano sought urgent consular assistance to get her partner repatriated back to Australia, and said the department of Home Affairs confirmed her husband’s eligibility with the Singaporean government.
“I spoke to DFAT, I even called my local MP,” she said.
“I had to throw everything I possibly could to getting him home, otherwise I didn’t know whether it’d be three months, four months, six months before I’d see him. Just the thought of that terrified me.”