Western Sydney Uni turns people smuggler to skirt virus ban

So universities are now people smugglers. Via The Australian:

Western Sydney University is offering $1,500 payments to Chinese students to help fund travel packages to third-country transit destinations to get around the federal government’s coronavirus ban.

International students at Western Sydney University have been informed that the institution will “pay each student arriving in Australia through a third county $1500 AUD to help cover the cost of airfares and 14 days’ accommodation”.

“We consider the Australian Government’s endorsement of entering Australia through a third country an important development, opening up the opportunity to arrive in time to commence study in Australia,” said the Western Sydney University in an email sent on Wednesday, noting the payment would be made after arrival in Australia.

But wait, there’s more:

Qantas could dispatch a raft of special flights to help retrieve tens of thousands of stranded Chinese students as soon as the coronavirus travel ban is lifted under a drastic plan being considered by the university sector.

The federal government extended the China travel ban for another week on Thursday, further narrowing the window for 100,000 students to begin their first semester studies in Australia.

Universities and the government are moving to make sure flights can quickly start operating again should the ban be lifted in time for students to practicably join in the first semester. The backlog would test the capacity of airlines and government immigration and quarantine processes.

700m Chinese are still locked down at home to kill the virus but we’re going to rush them in by any and all means possible?

The virus of greed has fatally sickened our bastions of enlightenment.