A group of Australian citizens representing tens of thousands of people who have been stranded overseas by border closures and flight caps, some since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, are taking their complaint against the Australian government to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, arguing they have been denied the basic human rights.

In February 2020 Australia pre-empted the World Health Organization and declared that Covid-19 was a pandemic, setting out drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus. The country closed its external borders and caps were set to limit the number of Australians who could enter. It is one of the few countries in the world to have imposed such strict restrictions.

But one year later, and with those restrictions still in place, many Australians are unable to return home despite the prime minister’s promise to have all stranded overseas citizens back by Christmas 2020.

Many say they are in dire straits. Some have lost their jobs, have little savings left and are forced to take out loans to survive. Others are either sick themselves or need to care for a loved one who is seriously or terminally ill. Others simply want to be reunited with their families.

According to official figures from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) up to 40,000 Australians based overseas are registered as wanting to return urgently. Of these, 5,000 are classed by the government as “vulnerable”.

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Three Australian citizens who have been stranded overseas for months are now taking matters into their own hands.

Last week they launched legal action by petitioning the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva to challenge the Australian government’s policy, which they say violates human rights law.

Prominent Australian-born, British human rights advocate Geoffrey Robertson QC, whose firm represents WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, will be presenting the petition at the UN Human Rights Committee. He has spoken out against sweeping caps on arriving Australians because the mandatory 14-day hotel quarantine programme imposed by the state governments already addresses any health risks posed by returning citizens.

In an interview with Australia’s ABC Radio National, Robertson accused Prime Minister Scott Morrison of “behaving as if in a moral vacuum”.

“International law recognises the strong bond between individuals and their homeland and no respectable government would impose travel caps to prevent, for over a year, its citizens from returning if they are prepared to do quarantine,” he said.

The legal basis for the UN petition is the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Robertson says guarantees the right of a person to leave their own country freely and states no one should be “arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country”.

One of the petitioners, Jason, a microbiologist who lives in the US, has been trying to return to Tasmania with his Australian wife to see sick and elderly relatives.

“I’m just an ordinary Aussie trying to get back home,” says Jason, who for privacy reasons has chosen not to divulge his surname.

“My visa runs out end of December and normally I’d have to leave the country then reapply for a visa outside. My wife has major depression and anxiety simply because of the helplessness of this situation.”

Other complainants include a volcanologist from Melbourne trying to secure a flight back to Australia since March last year and a family from the UK who want to be reunited with their loved ones.

Jason says he first became aware of the vast number of Australians stuck abroad when he joined StrandedAussies.org and found several other groups online where Australians were sharing stories and seeking advice.

He blames fear and a lack of adequate educational messaging by experts and government for failing to dispel the myth that returning Australians are carriers of Covid-19.

“We just want a fair go in the spirit of mateship. Everyone has a need to stay connected to family, to country.

“This petition represents all Australians stuck abroad,” said Jason, who estimates that the real figure of those wanting to return far exceeds the 40,000 quoted by DFAT.

The petition could damage Australia’s international standing at a time when the country has been hailed globally as a huge success story for its containment of the virus.

Australia has so far escaped the shocking death tolls of other countries, recording 909 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

On Tuesday, Australia announced it would open a travel bubble with New Zealand, allowing residents to travel between the two nations without the need for quarantine from April 19.