Couples in the United States of America and United Kingdom are pleading with their governments to end the Covid-19 travel restrictions to enable them to reunite with their loved ones. The couples have been separated for over a year due to travel restrictions and want their governments to expedite the Visa approval process. Now, a group called Love Is Not Tourism seeks to change that.
US-UK couples who have been separated for over a year due to travel restrictions have joined an online movement, Love Is Not Tourism, to petition governments to speed up the visa application process and allow them to reunite https://t.co/zMX9bvXPQR pic.twitter.com/5bEJCyMNIM
— CNN (@CNN) August 1, 2021
The couples moan the lack of physical intimacy and say that the pain of separation is hard to bear. They say that they don’t know when they will be able to meet each other next.
They have also taken to social media to voice their angst towards the government using the hashtag #LoveIsNotTourism. Some complain that while pubs and restaurants are open, they are being forced to stay away from family.
Keeping the borders closed due to delta ? You should have closed bars, sport events and concerts. Instead you keep us away from drowned and family. I’m crying and feel devastated. My future gets taken away from me.. #loveisnottourism #liftthetravelban
— Isabelle Arold (@missbella_a) July 26, 2021
Joe Biden is also being blamed for the travel restrictions after his administration announced that they will not be lifting them.
I will not be leaving this summer. Today I postpone my flight for the next year, during the year I don’t have time to go to the USA with my studies. Thank you, @JoeBiden, for separating me from my family for another year. We will never forget what you did. #LoveIsNotTourism
— arthur (@ArthurUrbain) July 31, 2021
The Joe Biden administration is receiving the stick for what people call a policy of ‘family separation’.
#BREAKING: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announces the U.S. will maintain all travel restrictions and NOT be lifting any of them anytime soon because of the Delta variant.
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 26, 2021
The Biden administration is continuing its policy of family separations #LoveIsNotTourism pic.twitter.com/cuOy6ZRsRR
The group also has a website which states, “Love Is Not Tourism is a global grassroots movement dedicated to reuniting binational couples and families who have been forcibly separated by travel bans and border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Petitions have also been launched on platforms such as change.org to draw the attention of governments to the matter.
The Covid-19 pandemic has been hard for families worldwide with members forced to stay away from each other due to restrictions on travel and movement. Despite vaccines becoming available and high rates of vaccination in certain countries, it has not given way to their reunion with their families.
Concerns regarding human rights violations have also been rife, especially with instances such as Australia deploying its military to help enforce the Sydney lockdown.
