A former Al Jazeera pregnant journalist, Charlotte Bellis, who is a New Zealand national, was denied re-entry by her home country on the basis of strict Covid-19 protocol. She was offered refuge by the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
While speaking to Radio New Zealand(RNZ) from Kabul, she said, “This just feels like such a breach of trust.”
Bellis said that the Taliban told her, “We’re happy for you, you can come and you won’t have a problem”.
She did not get to know about her pregnancy until she returned back to the Al-Jazeera headquarter in Doha, Qatar.
She kept quiet about her pregnancy as it is unlawful to conceive a baby out of wedlock in Qatar.
She left Al Jazeera in November 2021 while working in Afghanistan as a journalist and went to Belgium, the home country of her partner, Jim Huylebroek. As Bellis is not a resident of a country, she could not stay for a longer period.
She was left with only one option: to travel to Afghanistan with her partner as they had visas. She is currently in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, she started her preparation to return back to New Zealand.
Her application was rejected by authorities in New Zealand for an emergency return.
New Zealand’s Covid-19 response minister, Chris Hipkins, said on Monday, “I understand she wanted to return on a specific date and that officials reached out to her for more information shortly after looking at her application. The emergency allocation criteria includes a requirement to travel to New Zealand within the next 14 days. Ms Bellis indicated she did not intend to travel until the end of February and has been encouraged by MIQ (Managed isolation and quarantine) to consider moving her plans forward.”
Bellis applied for a MIQ option through the medical treatment pathway however authority asked her to sign up under the different category where its nationals are in a location that is under serious risk to their safety, she told to RNZ.
Currently, she is in contact with officials in New Zealand who claimed her rejected application is under review now.
The New Zealand government has closed down its borders after the emergence of the omicron variant, including for its nationals who want to return back to the country except for special circumstances.
