How Chinese students fled Melbourne in droves and travelled to Sydney hours before the Victoria-NSW border slammed shut
- More than 100 Chinese international students drove over NSW-Victoria border
- The students organised their travel ahead of border closure at 11.59pm Tuesday
- International students often travel home to China during the semester back
More than 100 Chinese international students fled to Sydney before the Victoria-NSW border shut amid a second wave of coronavirus infections in Melbourne.
The students paid travel agencies between $200 and $800 to be driven into NSW before the state's Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a border closure would come into effect at midnight on Tuesday.
Zhijie An, a travel agency owner in Melbourne, told the ABC he organised the transportation of more than 50 students into NSW over the past week.
'I have received another 400 requests from Chinese students since the border closure was announced,' Mr An said.
More than 100 Chinese international students fled to Sydney before the Victoria-NSW border shut. Pictured: People in face masks walk past signage for Australian universities in Melbourne's central business district on June 10
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a border closure would come into effect at midnight on Tuesday. Pictured: Police in Albury, NSW, check cars crossing the state border from Victoria
'But I can only arrange two students and two drivers in a car for each trip, due to the order for social distancing.'
The border closure is the first shut-down in 101 years and comes during the semester break, when international students would often travel home.
Chinese international student Sue Li was forced to transit through Thailand for 14 days earlier in the year so she could get to Melbourne for her master's degree.
Share this article
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had banned travellers entering Australia from China to stop the spread of coronavirus, before moving to completely shut borders in March.
Ms Li said she really likes Melbourne but believes Australia has a 'terrible government' which was 'failed to provide a respite for international students' by bringing in tough restrictions.
'Those immediate restrictions gave rise to hardships on us again and again, which could reflect the government's lack of compassion,' she said.
Pictured: A food delivery driver in a fast mask is seen in front of RMIT University in Melbourne
Ms Li was supposed to fly home to Guangzhou from Melbourne in mid-July but was forced to change her plans and travel to Sydney for a return flight to China.
After the border closure was announced, Ms Li booked a chartered car through a Chinese online forum as flights between the two cities were hard to come by.
Leo Xu, a graduate from the University of Melbourne, said those wishing to leave Australia 'didn't have much choice' except to fly out of Sydney.
Mr Xu - who had to cancel his flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong - believes Sydney could be the only location for his departure or he'd be 'stranded' in Melbourne.
The border closure is the first shut-down in 101 years and comes during the semester break, when international students would often travel home. Pictured: Sydney's UNSW, which has a large number of Chinese international students
Judy Jia, who arrived in Sydney on Monday after being driven from Melbourne, is trying to fly home to China because her visa is due to expire in 20 days.
She said she decided to travel to NSW amid Victoria's spike in COVID-19 infections.
Ms Jia said she is relying on scalpers to get a flight home and will likely have to fork out between $5,000 and $12,000 for a one-way economy ticket to Shanghai from Sydney.
Her mum wants her to leave Australia as soon as she gets a flight, no matter how expensive the ticket is.
Victoria recorded 134 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, its second-highest single-day total after a record 191 cases on Tuesday.
The state returned to stage-three lockdowns for six weeks on Thursday as it grapples with a second wave of coronavirus infections.
Pictured: Cars wait in traffic at the Victoria-NSW border following its shutdown
