Kiwis Can Finally Go Home – But Are We Even Welcome?

Last week, Charlotte Bellis wrote an article for the NZ Herald outlining her experience with New Zealand’s system of managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ).

- Molly Codyre

The former Al Jazeera journalist, who received global recognition last year for her stern questioning of the Taliban about their treatment of women and girls, was now, ironically, turning to Afghanistan for refuge when her homeland wouldn’t let her in.

Bellis is pregnant. She is also not married to her partner. This means she had to resign from Al Jazeera and leave Qatar where it is illegal to be unmarried and pregnant. With her home country effectively closed and facing imprisonment in her country of work, Bellis turned to Afghanistan. She reached out to Taliban contacts to explain her situation; she was pregnant and unmarried, would that be a problem if she entered the country? Their response: “No, we’re happy for you.”

By contrast, Bellis’s application for an emergency spot in MIQ – one that featured 59 supporting documents – was swiftly denied. Her story is not unique, nor is it uncommon, but it is important for the noise it has created, and the attention it has drawn to an issue Kiwis have been yelling about for the better part of 18 months: New Zealand is closed. The human rights of Kiwi citizens like me living abroad are being directly contravened. We are essentially stateless. And, arguably most importantly, our government does not seem to care.

That noise obviously worked. Last night, for the second time in three months, I cried tears of relief. Once again the government announced a loosening of the border policy – notably, the implementation of 10 days of home isolation, rather than the enforced hotel stay that has been in place until now. As of 13 March, I will no longer have to enter a lottery to go home.