Feel abandoned

themercury.com.au fered heart palpitations in the United States and has blood pressure problems but has delayed medical tests until she gets home.

“The doctor told me my blood pressure was concerningly

SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 696 397 high for my age, that was scary. But for the sake of not wanting to go into debt getting tests done here I’ve kept putting it off knowing we’d be coming back to Australia,” she said.

Her Crohn’s disease medicine also ran out in May but she cannot afford to get more because it’s five times more expensive than in Australia.

“I have always been so proud to be Australian, but this is an embarrassment,” she said.

Carmelina Ciampa has been separated from her family since October last year, when she went to Italy with her youngest son to care for her mother.

She was in Milan with her mother Rosa, who died in August, and now she cannot get back. “Spinning in my head, the words, ‘You are on your own’ because this is the message that passes, when an embassy, due to the choices of a government, raises their arms saying that they cannot do anything to help a citizen in such a moment,” she said.

“I think the government should remove the cap, and should consider any available option to help its stranded citizens.”

Mohammad Umair Khan, 27, has been stuck in Pakistan since March, paying a mortgage on an empty house in Brisbane.

His wife Marium Zameer, 22, needs to get to Australia before December so she can take up her spouse visa.

“I’ve already spent a fortune during this pandemic and now had to get my car sold back in Brisbane to buy a business class ticket,” he said.

Elspeth Clarke, a higher education librarian, lost her job after her contract ran out while she was waiting for a flight back to Melbourne from London. “It seems like Australia has turned its back on us,” the 29-year-old said.