A 27-year-old German University of Malta student has been “stuck in a coronavirus black hole” since March as she has not been allowed back in Malta – where she has all her belongings – because she does not qualify for repatriation flights.
Michelle first travelled to Malta in 2018 when she started a full-time Master’s in Media and Communications. Since then, she has been travelling regularly between Malta and Germany. She never applied for a residence permit in Malta because she never stayed more than 90 days at a stretch.
In the beginning of March, she travelled to Germany for what was meant to be a few days. While she was there, Malta closed its airports after the first case of coronavirus was detected. The government offered repatriation flights to Maltese nationals and those holding a residence permit – but she did not qualify.
According to legal notice 92 of 2020, the Superintendent of Public Health has the discretion to issue an exemption if the travel is deemed to be essential.
Michelle – who asked that her full name is not published because there is “so much hate going on in the comment section” on social media – said that this had created a black hole and she is one of the people that got sucked into it.
For the past three months, she has been asking the authorities to reconsider her request for an exemption adding that she is willing to pay for the flight in full and abide by quarantine rules. But she has not heard anything yet.
I just want to get back to my life
“I moved into an apartment in San Ġwann in January and I am still paying rent on it… Everything I own is left in Malta. I cannot move forward with life in Germany since all my legal documents, clothes, electronics, everything is left in Malta.
“I cannot stop paying my rent or else I will lose everything I own. I cannot keep paying rent in Malta and Germany since this is draining me financially to the extreme,” she says.
Michelle – a full-time student who works remotely for a German company to sustain herself – initially stayed at her grandparents’ house in Germany but then moved out so as not to put them at risk of contracting coronavirus. She is now paying to stay in an Airbnb accommodation.
“I just want to get back to my life. There have been other people in the same situation who were allowed back while I am not granted the same rights,” she says, referring to the case of Australian national Caroline Oh who had been living and working in Malta since January and was stranded in the UK in March.
She was initially not allowed in because she had yet to get all her Maltese documents, but the authorities eventually allowed her back into the country.
The health authorities did not reply to questions sent.