The human cost of COVID-19 border closures

The UNSW research shows COVID-19 travel restrictions had a "high human cost" on Australians struggling to find information about emergency housing and financial and medical support while stranded.

UNSW associate professor Holly Seale said that "very little attention" had been paid to the unintended consequences of border restrictions but that stress, anxiety and depression affected the wellbeing of trapped travellers.

Associate professor Seale said Australians stuck overseas lacked access to reliable government information, and that people with low literacy, disabilities, or limited English language proficiency struggled with the resources.

"Out of the four countries who had dedicated websites for citizens abroad, Australia scored the worst overall for readability, accessibility and usability," UNSW researcher Pippa McDermid said.

One UNSW study analysed the emergency housing support offered to stranded citizens by 11 governments including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada, USA, UK, France, Spain, Japan, Singapore, and Thailand.

Of those nations, only Spain and France helped citizens trapped overseas find emergency housing.

Research found that five countries offered financial assistance and six countries (including Australia) offered mental health support, but none provided comprehensive support.

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Another study by the UNSW researchers found that out of 2,400 people surveyed more than half had been stranded for longer than five months, and one in ten experienced homelessness during that period. Around two thirds of respondents had depression or stress.

Levels of distress were higher for people separated from their partners and families with 77 per cent saying they were moderately to very severely depressed.

On average, the financial burden of being stranded amounted to about $10,829 according to the research and 71 per cent reported feeling financially stressed.

"Respondents also reported little to no assistance from their national governments, highlighting the importance of providing additional support to this vulnerable group in future public health crises," associate professor Seale said.

"Often the focus is on tourism and holidays, yet many tens of thousands of people were separated from their partners or families for 18 months or more," associate professor Seale said.

The studies also considered business travellers, international students, families and short-term migrant workers stuck overseas because of border closures.

"We hope our findings will help policymakers plan and communicate support packages for this vulnerable population in future public health crises," she said.