Is Australia’s India Travel Ban Racist?

The ruling will remain in force until mid-May, and the claims of racism by people around the world have already been dismissed by Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.

Speaking to a radio station in Sydney, Mr. Morrison said “(T)he same accusations were made against the government over a year ago when we closed the borders to mainland China,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB” adding “(T)here’s no politics or ideology in a pandemic… It’s got nothing to do with politics, this is a virus.”

In response to the ruling, the nation’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne told the media that arrivals from India represented over 50% of all positive coronavirus cases currently being held in quarantine.

Just over a month ago this figure stood at 10%.

The increase she said added a “very, very significant burden on health and medical services” in Australia.