Australia to Assist Evacuating Pacific Islanders out of Wuhan
FONUA TALEI
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday announced that they are working closely with New Zealand and willing to assist other Pacific Island countries for evacuation out of Wuhan City.
Mr Morrison said the decision was taken after an information session for diplomatic missions was held in Beijing, China, on Monday.
He said they were preparing a plan for an operation to prepare assisted departure for isolated and vulnerable Australians living in Wuhan. However, the operation would be carried out subject to close cooperation and with the authority and approval of the Chinese government.
“We thank them (Chinese Government) again for the way they have been working with other nations and we work in the same arrangements that has been extended to those countries,” Mr Morrison said.
“I stress that there is a limited window here and we are moving very swiftly to ensure that we put this plan together and put this operation together.” “We will be doing this operation in partnership with the New Zealand Government and we will seek to work with other Pacific family in the region and where possible provide the support we can.”
He said all those assisted would be kept in quarantine at Christmas Island for a period of 14 days.
He also highlighted that there was no guarantee that the operation would succeed as there were many issues and complications to overcome.
There are 11 Fijians on lockdown in Wuhan, four of whom are members of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Naval Division.
On Wednesday night, local residents living alongside the high-rise apartment where the Fijians are staying came out of their balconies and cheered for Wuhan to stay strong.
It was very emotional and brought tears to most us, one of the Fijian students said.