Due to the coronavirus epidemic, 33 countries are strongly discouraged for UK travellers, who risk very high if they cheat.
Portugal, South Africa, Brazil… London has put 33 destinations on a “red list”, strongly discouraged because of the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic and the spread of mutations. And if he took the urge to a traveller to lie, it could cost him up to 10 years in prison, a sentence that is controversial across the Channel.
Concretely, from Monday 15th February, people arriving in the United Kingdom from one of the 33 countries on this list, mainly located in Africa and South America, will be turned away if they are foreigners. And if they are British, they will be able to enter as long as they isolate themselves for 10 days at the hotel, at a cost of 1,750 pounds per person, or around 2,000 euros, including the hotel, food and tests. London has already reserved 4,600 rooms for this purpose.
10 years in prison for false declaration
If this quarantine was not respected, they would then risk a fine of 5,000 to 10,000 pounds sterling (5,700 to 11,400 euros).
And if, to avoid this forced quarantine, they were guilty of a false declaration in the travel history on the passenger tracking form filled out on arrival in the UK, they would risk a maximum of 10 years in prison. , a sentence deemed disproportionate by many observers.
“A higher penalty than for a sexual assault on a minor”
A former Supreme Court justice, Lord Sumption, accused the Minister of Health Matt Hancock, at the origin of these measures, of losing touch with reality in a column published by the Daily Telegraph: “Mr Hancock Does he really think that the non-disclosure of a visit to Portugal is worse than a large number of violent firearms offences or sexual assaults involving minors, for which the maximum penalty is seven years? », He got carried away.
For his part, Transport Minister Grant Shapps estimated that the British public would expect “severe” measures and that the maximum penalty reflected the gravity of the crime. “I think this policy is measured and proportional”, defended Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Parliament on Wednesday.
Travel abroad is currently banned in the UK except for compelling reasons (work, health, education).
