'Shattered, heartbroken, financially ruined': stranded Australians plead for help

With revelations this week that 18,800 nationals were stranded overseas, it became clear that the government’s strict international arrivals cap was causing significant disruption for Australians trying to get home.

The government introduced the cap in July to ease pressure on the hotel quarantine regime, but the measure has prompted the few airlines still offering flights to prioritise business and first class passengers as a means to remain profitable.

Related: ACCC investigates complaints about airlines flying to Australia during Covid-19

Reports of economy passengers being repeatedly bumped for last-minute business customers, and planes flying with as few as four economy passengers, have fuelled criticism of the cap.

Guardian Australia has been inundated with emails from Australians stranded overseas, among them a man desperately trying to get back to his dying father and a nurse who left to visit her sick mother in Denmark. Here are a few of their stories.

Scott McCourt

The Berlin-based Australian photographer had originally planned to fly home in May, but that flight was cancelled indefinitely.

After hearing that his father in Port Macquarie had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, McCourt desperately booked a new flight home. He last saw his father in September 2019.

Related: Australians stranded overseas as airlines fly with as few as four economy passengers

His first booking was for 5 August, but Qatar Airways has since cancelled his economy class ticket four times. Despite submitting paperwork to the airline proving his father’s sickness, he was told he did not qualify on compassionate grounds for an early rescheduled flight. Instead he was asked to pay for a business class seat on one of the flights for which his economy booking had been cancelled, an offer he described as “heartless”.

“I rang their booking office where I was … showed zero compassion towards my situation,” McCourt said. “I was genuinely speechless and really had to keep myself from getting angry.

“I am desperately trying to get home to my dying father but this airline is only interested in taking people’s money and bookings so they can sell our places to the next highest bidder,” he said.

His most recent booking, for 18 August, was cancelled 12 hours before departure. After Guardian Australia contacted Qatar Airways for comment about McCourt’s case, he was offered a new departure date of 25 August.

Keagan Vowels

In March Keagan and his family made a long-anticipated trip to England to see his grandparents and to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Keagan, a year 8 student from the New South Wales town of Teralba, has since lived in a camper van with his parents and four younger siblings in their cousins’ front yard in Crawley.

The 13-year-old had originally been excited for Legoland and Harry Potter excursions while in England, but the family, realising the financial strain they would be under, had to cancel those plans.

Keagan has not been to school for five months, and since physical schooling resumed in NSW, lessons are no longer online. He is unable to properly call his friends due to the time zone difference, and is concerned he is falling so far behind in classes he will be unable to realise his dream of becoming an engineer or scientist.

“School is a very precious thing to me, I get to learn and I get to have a rest from my siblings and I don’t have to worry about being an example to them, at least for six hours,” he said.

For their birthdays earlier in the year, Keagan’s younger sister and brother had hand-sewn presents and shared a cake.

The Vowels’ flights home with Emirates have been repeatedly cancelled since their original April departure date. They are now scheduled to fly home on 8 November, but are concerned that if they do not upgrade to a higher class seat, they will be bumped again.

The family tried to book business class flights home this week, but could not afford the cost – $113,000. Keagan’s father, Paul, is a paramedic, and his mother, Deanne, is a teacher. They have had no income since March.

“We have run out of money. We are in the hands of Emirates,” Deanne said. “Please help us.”

Marianne Uldall

The Melbourne nurse flew to Copenhagen in June to visit her mother after she suffered a stroke. Her return flight, originally scheduled for July, has been pushed back by more than a month.

She has since exhausted all her paid leave while waiting in Denmark. The sole income earner in her family, she is separated from her three children and unable “to support colleagues in the crazy fight against the pandemic” at Werribee Mercy hospital.

Qatar Airways offered her an earlier flight home if she paid almost $4,000 to upgrade to business class, but given the cap, she is concerned even this will not guarantee her a flight home.

“My children are crying and longing for my return, my partner is struggling to keep it all together,” she said.

“My family and I are shattered, we’re heartbroken and we’re financially ruined.”

After Guardian Australia contacted Qatar Airways for comment about Uldall’s case, she was also offered a new booking on 25 August.

Cristina Williams

The Brisbane mother has not seen her Australian husband, Mat, since January. The Williams family has been separated both by Australia’s international arrival cap, and its strict exit ban.

The family usually splits its time between Brisbane and Mesa, outside Phoenix, Arizona, as Mat works and has two children from a previous marriage there.

Since travel restrictions were introduced at the beginning of the pandemic, Cristina has not been able to secure exit exemptions from the Australian government for her and her four boys to travel to Mesa, where they want to stay for the rest of the pandemic.

Her applications for the five of them have been denied five times, but she was recently granted an exemption for just herself.

Meanwhile, as a result of the international arrival cap, Mat has been unable to afford flights into Australia for him and the children he is with in Mesa.

Cristina said: “What do I do with one exemption? It’s like a prisoner being let out of jail for a day. When will my sons see their brothers?... All I want is to not be stuck inside the only democracy in the world actively blocking the return of its own citizens and forcibly preventing their exit when in need.

“We are desperate, we are hurting, we are Australians. Let my family be a family again.”

Rayan Wadi

The two-year-old had been staying in Barcelona for an extended period with his Australian father, Adam, and his wife, Khadija Jmilou.

In February, at the beginning of the pandemic, Adam heeded advice and flew back to Sydney, but had to organise entry for his wife, as she would need a partner visa. Rayan, an Australian citizen, stayed with Khadija.

After organising the visa, border controls further tightened, and Rayan and Khadija have since been repeatedly bumped off their Qatar Airways flight to Sydney as a result of the international arrival cap.

Their most recent departure, for 16 August, was cancelled. The airline issued them a voucher to book a flight after October, but has not yet rebooked them.

The lease on Rayan and Khadija’s Barcelona apartment has since expired, and they have had to live with friends until they can fly home. Adam has accessed $20,000 of his superannuation early to fund his wife’s visa and living costs while stuck in Barcelona.

“My family and I have been apart for six months,” Adam said. “Every government has used their national airlines to bring their citizens back home before closing their borders. Why do we have to be under the mercy of foreign international airlines like Qatar Airlines?”

Ethan Hoffmann

The 26-year-old Australian has been living in London since August 2019, working in the travel industry. Having set up his life in London, he remained there through the early months of the pandemic, knowing he would be unlikely to find work in Australia.

But in June he was made redundant when his company buckled under the impact of Covid-19 on global travel. After planning to pack up his life and move back to his parents in Brisbane, he booked a flight with Emirates for the earliest possible date, 11 August. However, this has been repeatedly cancelled.

Desperate to help him, his sister, Zoe, is now helping to run an online support group for those affected by the cap, which has more than 900 members.

Ethan said he could only afford rice and sauce every day, with no income to cover living expenses. On Friday, he said he had £13 ($25) in his bank account, and his parents were unable to pay for a business class seat. His current flight home is scheduled for 24 October.

Ethan called the Australian High Commission in the United Kingdom to ask for help, and claims he was told to get a job picking fruit, to set up a crowdfunding site, or to ask his family to fund a business flight.

Airline responses

Guardian Australia contacted Qatar Airways and Emirates for comment on these and other cases.

Qatar said: “Many customers have emergency, compassionate or medical reasons for travel, and while we are working diligently to prioritise these cases, unfortunately not all passengers can be accommodated on their preferred flight due to the restrictions in place.

“We continue to work closely with all our passengers to find alternative flights if they are unable to travel on their original intended flight.”

Emirates said: “We continue to follow the Australian government’s directive to restrict capacity on all inbound international flights. All of our customers are important to us and we have adopted a balanced approach to seat allocation to minimise disruption and continue to accommodate passengers across all of our cabins on flights.”