A single mother separated from her autistic son is one of thousands of Australians still stranded overseas, desperate to return home.
Lynne travelled to Scotland to care for her sick mum, who has since died.
She’s urgently trying to get home as her 13-year-old is son has been staying with friends in Australia.
Lynne also has health issues that have gone unchecked in Scotland.
Her story is one of a handful being shared by human rights organisation Amnesty International, which is ramping up its campaign to help the more than 35,000 stranded Australians return.
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Amnesty campaigner Joel Mackay says the distressing accounts show the impact of the weekly limit on people returning to Australia.
“The prime minister promised to get the stranded Aussies home by Christmas,” he said on Wednesday.
“This is a promise that looks certain to be broken.
“The piecemeal approach to bringing people home needs to be supercharged. More quarantine spaces, home quarantine, more repatriation flights – this is what will bring Aussies home.”
Another stranded Australian is Carmelina, who is stuck in Italy with her son Oscar.
The pair have spent about $15,000 trying to get home, with multiple tickets cancelled because airlines have overbooked flights.
Carmelina says she’s receiving little assistance from the Australian embassy and has written to federal politicians asking for help.
Amnesty is calling on the federal government to work with the states to let more people return home each week.
The group says Australians should be allowed to quarantine at home if safe to do so.
It’s also urging more repatriation flights and for Melbourne to reopen to international arrivals.
