Desperate Australian mother stranded in Nepal with daughter furious at embassy response to her plea

A desperate mum stranded in Nepal and trying to return home has been infuriated by a bland response to her plea for help from Australian authorities.

Pragya’s toddler daughter’s Nepalese visa expires on August 10, but the soonest she could get a flight was August 23.

The gap between the visa expiration and her flights from Kathmandu potentially place them at risk of detention in Nepal.

The mum-of-three sent an urgent plea to the Australian embassy but was told, ‘you should try to bring forward her flight’.

‘We would suggest you work with travel providers and/or airlines to secure a flight for her and yourself prior to August 10, 2021.’

‘They send me this email, as if I haven’t tried to do that,’ Pragya fumed in a post on Facebook group for stranded Australians.

‘I am so p***ed off want to complain but I don’t know where to complain.’

Pragya is one of more than 14,000 people in the group, which is a forum for expats to detail their frustrations in trying to return home during the pandemic.

About 10,000 of those are in India, one of the worst-affected nations by Covid, with more than 400,000 deaths.

The US, with 623,000, remains by far the worst-hit, with nearly 90,000 more deaths than Brazil.

An online search for flights from Kathmandu to Sydney shows there are no available flights before September 30 – and that one costs US$75,624 (AU$101,310)

Fellow members in the group had more savvy advice for her.

‘Trust me, no country likes to put anyone in detention because it costs them a place plus money to feed someone. So somehow that will work out to your advantage,’ one man wrote.

He suggested using a list of flight cancellations and a contact name at the Australian embassy to plead with Nepalese authorities to grant an extra two-week extension to the visa.

Daily Mail Australia reached out to Pragya, the Australian Embassy, Nepal, and Honorary Consulate General of Nepal for comment.

Source: Daily Mail