Covid-19 Lockdown: International Students Flood Relief Centers, Beg for Food

Source: The Guardian

Following the economic effects of Covid-19 across the world, International students and other temporary visa holders have been locked out of federal government support.

It was reported that majority of the students are relying on food banks and restaurants giving away free meals to survive during the coronavirus pandemic.

Social media platforms are already flooded with images of long lines of international students outside emergency relief services in the hubs of Sydney and Melbourne, as well as smaller cities including Darwin.

Australia, for instance, has more than 560,000 international students, many of whom have supported themselves with part-time or casual jobs while studying.

As the economy has shut down and with the federal government declining to offer direct financial support to temporary visa holders, the queues forming outside food banks each day suggest that startling numbers are now struggling to feed themselves.

National food relief charities say the increase in demand has been huge, driven by a surge in requests from temporary visa holders.

Brianna Casey, the chief executive of FoodBank, said her organisation usually provided 815,000 meals a month across the country through its partner charities. It has experienced a 50% increase in demand during the pandemic.

“We had a group of students present to one of our food banks on the weekend. They claimed that they hadn’t eaten for a week,” Casey said.

“We are seeing right now across the country is an extreme impact on that cohort of university and college students. We are very, very concerned about their welfare at the moment,” she added.

Pardeep, a nursing student from India who studies at the University of Wollongong, stated that she had never expected to be relying on charities for food and groceries. “It’s a really big surprise for me,” she said.