Pregnant Kiwi journalist Charlotte Bellis to return home to New Zealand after being offered a place in the country's MIQ
Pregnant Kiwi journalist Charlotte Bellis has been offered a place in New Zealand's MIQ and will head home at the beginning of March after her initial application to return was rejected.
A pregnant Kiwi journalist whose application to return to New Zealand was rejected has now been offered a place in the country's managed isolation and quarantine system.
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson announced on Tuesday Charlotte Bellis had been told by the government there was a MIQ spot for her, days after she said it was "brutally ironic" she had to turn to the Taliban for safe refuge.
"There is a secured place for her, with flight arrangement alongside it that has been communicated to her today," he said.
"The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment have offered her a voucher today.
"The important point here is there is a place in MIQ for Ms Bellis and I urge her to take it up."
In a statement posted to Twitter, Ms Bellis said she was looking forward to returning to her home country at the beginning of March to give birth to her daughter.
"We are so excited to come home and to be surrounded by family and friends at such a special time," she said.
"We want to thank New Zealanders for their overwhelming support. It has been stressful and your kind words and encouragement helped Jim (her partner) and I immensely.
"We are disappointed it had to come to this. I will continue to challenge the New Zealand government to find a solution to border controls to keep New Zealanders at home and abroad safe and their rights respected."
Mr Robertson defended the MIQ system and the allocation of vouchers as New Zealand continues to maintain strict border measures.
There have been calls for New Zealand's hotel-based MIQ system to end after tens of thousands of vulnerable Kiwis were denied entry to their home country.
Please find attached my response regarding Emergency MIQ Allocation. pic.twitter.com/mQ1R8W8eOd
— Charlotte Bellis (@CharlotteBellis) February 1, 2022
"We've had our MIQ process in place for a very good reason, it has supported our public health response, it has avoided a number of deaths," Mr Robertson said.
"But that doesn't make it easy for those who are at the other end wanting to come back to New Zealand.
"MBIE works hard to make good decisions here, they continually communicate with people who apply, that's what's happened in Ms Bellis' case, and there is now a place for her."
Christchurch-born Ms Bellis, who became famous for asking the Taliban "what will you do to protect the rights of women and girls?", had this week asked the same question of the New Zealand government after they rejected her application to return home.
She was reporting for Al Jazeera when she discovered she was pregnant in September, a few days after she returned to Doha, Qatar, where it is illegal to be pregnant and unmarried.
Her and her partner Jim had to keep her pregnancy a secret so she resigned from her job, flew to Afghanistan - the only place they both had visas - and attempted to secure an MIQ spot back home before the birth of their little girl.
But after submitting 59 documents in an attempt to secure an emergency hotel room, her application was rejected because the date she was requested was "not within the 14 day window required for emergency allocation".
Ms Bellis applied for an emergency allocation MIQ voucher on January 24 under category 1a(i) which applies to New Zealand citizens or residents requiring access to time-critical medical treatment for the applicant or their dependent.
She received a response suggesting her to reapply under a different category, category 1a(iii) which applies to New Zealand citizens or residents who are in a location or situation where there is a serious risk to their safety and their only option is to return to New Zealand.
Ms Bellis had insisted the cause for her return continues to be the need for time-critical medical treatment.