‘Doesn’t make sense’: Charlotte Bellis slams NZ quarantine lottery

A New Zealand journalist who faces giving birth illegally in Afghanistan has a message for NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern..

Pregnant New Zealand journalist Charlotte Bellis says she hopes her situation can “move the dial” on the way New Zealand manages its hotel quarantine program.

The former Al Jazeera journalist shared her story in the New Zealand Herald over the weekend, detailing her rejection from a Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) allocation despite expecting a child in Afghanistan – a place where unmarried pregnant women can face prison time.

Kiwi journalist Charlotte Bellis is expecting a daughter with her partner, Jim Huylebroek, in May this year. Picture: Instagram/CharlotteBellis

Speaking to a New Zealand radio station this morning, Bellis said people cannot understand the difficulty of being locked out by your own country until in the situation themselves.

“I hope this moves the dial towards a more logic-based, empathy-based approach for the thousands of Kiwis who are abroad and would love to come back to the homeland.

“You see it from the outside and go, ‘Yeah, that sucks for that person,’ and ‘Yeah, that’s an awful situation that they can’t get home.’

“But it’s not until you’re actually in it that you realise it just doesn’t make sense.”

When asked what message she would give to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Bellis said just to “look at the bigger picture”.

“What would she do if she was me, and where does she expect me to give birth? That is the crux of it.”

Bellis is expecting a daughter in May with her partner Jim Huylebroek, who is a New York Times photographer in Kabul, and faces giving birth in Afghanistan.

She discovered she was pregnant in September when she was in Qatar – a “miracle” previously being told she couldn’t have children.

As it is illegal to be unmarried and pregnant in Qatar, she resigned from her job at Al Jazeera and moved to her partner’s native Belgium, but couldn’t stay long as she wasn’t a resident.

Meanwhile, she has been trying desperately to get back into New Zealand, through its lottery-style allocation of spots in MIQ – but without success.

Charlotte Bellis and Jim Huylebroek may welcome their daughter into the world in Afghanistan. Picture: Instagram/CharlotteBellis

While borders were scheduled to reopen for New Zealand citizens in February, that date has been postponed indefinitely due to the Omicron variant.

Now, ironically, Afghanistan may be her only hope as it is a country where she and her partner both have visas to allow them to stay.

But it is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried in Afghanistan, which has forced Bellis to ask senior Taliban contacts if she would be safe there.

“Technically it’s illegal here also but they said, ‘You’re foreigners, what you do is between you … and frankly, we’re really happy for you, congratulations.’

“They said if you come, keep it on the down low … but they said, you’ll be safe and if anything happens you can call us.”

It is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried in Afghanistan. Picture: Supplied/JimHuylebroek

Bellis said they had recently received an email from MIQ inviting them to apply under a different category.

“The category being that there’s a serious risk to our safety, as opposed to, ‘We need medical treatment,’” she said.

“I don’t know why we’re debating clauses, when nothing has changed in our application.

“The fact of the matter is, I’m a citizen, I pay taxes, I’m pregnant and I’m in a dangerous situation. Why am I jumping through hoops? You’ve already got all the information.”

At least four people have offered to give up their spots in MIQ for Bellis, but the system does not allow for any swapping of allocations.

A second country has also reportedly offered the journalist refuge.

This article originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald and has been reproduced with permission