Why Australia’s travel ban is worse than Saudi Arabia

Following the announcement that Saudi Arabia will allow vaccinated citizens to fly abroad, all eyes are on Australia’s strict travel ban.

Despite announcing 13 deaths on Sunday as a result of COVID-19, vaccinated residents of Saudi Arabia will now be allowed to leave the kingdom for the first time in more than a year.

On Monday, the country eased a ban on international travel aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus and its variants.

Until recently, Saudi citizens have been mostly banned from travelling abroad out of concerns that international travel could fuel the outbreak of the virus within the country of more than 30 million people.

According to Al Jazeera, the ban, which has been in place since March 2020, has affected Saudi students who were studying abroad, among others.

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Saudi passengers arrive to King Khaled International Airport after authorities lift travel restrictions for citizens immunised against COVID-19. Picture: Fayez Nureldine/AFP

Saudi authorities have lifted travel restrictions for vaccinated residents. Picture: Fayez Nureldine/AFP

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Having vaccinated close to 11.5 million residents with at least one jab of the COVID-19 vaccine, authorities will also allow people who have recently recovered from the virus and minors under 18 years of age with travel insurance to travel abroad.

The easing of rules has shifted the spotlight onto Australia, where overseas travel restrictions aimed at keeping COVID-19 infections out of the nation, are still in place for residents meaning unless an exemption is granted, international travel is banned.

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After significant restrictions were lifted across the UK, residents can now travel around Europe. Picture: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP

Australia travel restrictions under global spotlight

Prior to the travel revision imposed by Saudi Arabia, the kingdom – along with Australia and North Korea – was one of just a handful of countries that imposed an outward travel ban.

Australia’s strict travel ban leaves us almost alone in the world, given the Government has ruled that citizens, including dual citizens, require a government exemption to travel overseas.

Qatar was another country to impose a ban on its citizens leaving the country, but that was at the very beginning of the pandemic and had been lifted by August 2020. It is still recording virus cases, with 330 new infections recorded on May 22.

The new travel ban lift in Saudi Arabia means Australia’s travel ban is one of the strictest in the world. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

At the height of the UK’s second wave, the British government cracked down on international travel meaning it became a crime to travel abroad for leisure. But, after significant restrictions have been lifted, the law has now expired. Numbers in the UK, where there is a strong vaccination program, have dropped considerably, however the country still recorded more than 2500 new infections on May 22.

As of last week, Britons can now travel for leisure out of the UK – just in time for the ever-popular European summer. And even in extreme circumstances, residents can leave the country and travel to places including India which has been battling a severe wave of outbreaks and been previously restricted.

While the US is allowing travel, authorities still have advised residents not to visit a list of 100 locations. And in Singapore, while residents are not banned from leaving, they are required to gain permission from their employer.

Australia has a strict travel ban in place for residents. Picture: Brad Fleet

Government not worried about outward travel ban

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Kate Ogg, an associate professor from ANU’s College of Law, says Australia’s continued border ban comes down to three reasons – being a remote island, an ongoing approach to defending its borders and Australia’s lack of a human’s rights act.

“The Government isn’t worried about enacting this outward travel ban because there are very few domestic grounds on which to challenge it – we don’t have a federal human rights act,” Dr Ogg told the publication.

Australia’s travel ban is one of the toughest in the world. NCA NewsWire/Sarah Matray

“There’s a big legal lacuna in Australia and also there’s no regional framework like in Africa and Europe, which have regional human rights conventions and supernational courts. There’s nothing like that in the Oceania region.

“There’s that famous quote from former prime minister John Howard: ‘We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come,’ and I think that equally applies to leaving.

“We see this a lot with asylum seekers and refugees about border control and there’s a large section of the Australian populace that seems to support it and accept it.”