Aussie mum stranded in Nepal and facing jail with her toddler daughter if they can't fly home begs embassy for help - but gets a heartless response
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 Shrestha'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,' Ms Shrestha 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.'
Ms Shrestha 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.
More than 36,000 Australians are still stranded overseas and trying to return home.
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 Shrestha, the Australian Embassy, Nepal, and Honorary Consulate General of Nepal for comment.