Hundreds of Australian citizens and permanent residents remain in Wuhan after the federal government confirmed it was not considering more evacuation flights from the city, which is at the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus.
On Tuesday, at various airports as the Australians, quarantined at Christmas Island, returned home.
They had been evacuated from Wuhan aboard two flights organised by the Australian government.
Australian citizen Jean Lin is still in Wuhan after arriving on January 18 to visit her parents who are in their 70s.
The Sydneysider originally planned to stay in the city for a week but has now been stranded in China for a month.
Despite being "appreciative" that the Australian government helped by evacuating citizens, she remained “anxious and worried” that she, like many others, have been left behind "in what is clearly an unprecedented situation in Wuhan".
“I would like to understand the rationale for the current situation and the options and help, if any, are forthcoming from the Australian government,” she told SBS Cantonese.
Her husband Des Lin, who is in Sydney, said they had heard about the government's evacuation plan in late-January and were closely watching the two Qantas flights which flew people from Wuhan to Christmas Island for quarantine.
Deserted streets of Wuhan. Source: Supplied; Jason Chen
However, he said despite being told twice that his wife was on the list to be evacuated, she missed out over the government’s prioritisation of the elderly and young children.
He said the government had not properly explained to those stranded in Wuhan why or how the decision was made not to organise more evacuation flights or the criteria that was used when deciding who would be evacuated first.
SBS Cantonese understands that among those returning to Sydney from Christmas Island on Monday, 70 have written an open letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison asking the government to arrange more flights from Wuhan.
“You cannot make such a ‘half bucket’ arrangement. It is unacceptable that you evacuate half of the people but abandoning the other half,” Mr Lin said.
“They abandoned us.”
He emphasised that it was “understandable” that the elderly and children were chosen to be evacuated first but pointed out that among those on the two Qantas flights were single adults, while many families and children remain stranded in Wuhan.
"I called the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who told me the Department of Home Affairs was solely responsible for deciding whom to evacuate first," he said.
"I fear to lose my wife again."
Mr Lin's first wife died six years ago following a battle with cancer and he said he was very grateful when he met his current wife.
"I fear that she will not be able to evacuate Wuhan forever. If something unfortunate happens, I do not know what I would do," he said.
“It's like history repeating itself.
"We are feeling the strain of being apart and for me, this is especially more telling given the loss of my late first wife to cancer six years ago and that has been mentally and emotionally challenging.”
Mr Lin turned to his local MP, Tanya Plibersek, for help.
Wuhan, China Source: Supplied; Jason Chen
The MP's office told SBS Cantonese that Ms Plibersek had notified the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, regarding Ms Lin's situation.
The MP also sent a letter to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne.
It is not known exactly how many Australians remain in Wuhan, but SBS Cantonese estimates that the number was in the hundreds.
A letter from MP Tanya Plibersek to Forign Minister Marise Payne. Source: Supplied
Call on the government to do 'everything it can'
University of Sydney lecturer Dr Jennifer Chan said the coronavirus epidemic had spread around China and the world “very rapidly”, and perhaps the Australian government lacked the experience in dealing with the issue.
However, she said that the government had a “considerable” amount of resources to call upon.
"The government should not bring fear to its citizens during this process," she said.
“[stopping evacuation flights] will cause the stranded nationals to feel more and more anxious.”
Dr Chan said she was aware of many cases where Chinese nationals with Australian permanent residency were being restricted from leaving the country by Chinese authorities.
However, Dr Chan emphasised that Ms Lin's case was different because she is an Australian citizen and the government has an obligation to ensure they are brought home safely.
SBS Cantonese has contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment.
Source: Supplied; Desmond Lim
