A Kiwi nurse living in the UK says the Covid-19 pandemic shouldn't override the right for New Zealanders abroad to be able to come home.
On average, tens of thousands of people are clicking refresh on the MIQ website every day, but only a few hundred of them manage to secure a booking.
With the chances of getting a managed isolation room so slim, it means some Kiwis are stranded overseas in difficult circumstances struggling to get home.
But this morning Wendy Whittaker told Breakfast it shouldn't be a lottery and that if the Government wanted to fix the problem it would.
Whittaker slammed the Government's messaging around New Zealanders having a right to return home as "nonsense", claiming MIQ spaces had reduced by thousands. She also claimed the Government was setting aside MIQ places for "pet projects".
"There are New Zealanders overseas whose parents are dying in New Zealand, whose children are ill, they need to return home and they have the right to return home," she said.
"Now why is the Govermment reducing the number of MIQ places by almost 50 per cent by stealth? ... They do not want New Zealanders to come home.
"If the Government wanted to fix the problem they would fix the problem.
"New Zealanders have the right to return to their country, they have the right to return to their country. Now the Covid measures do not override the rights of New Zealanders to return to their country."
Whittaker is now taking action into her own hands.
She has been speaking with human rights lawyers, including UK-based human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, about making a case against the New Zealand Government.
Whittaker said Robertson was currently working on an case across the Tasman for Australians in a similar position. After speaking with him she said he'd be happy to advance the case for frustrated Kiwis.
As well, Whittaker said barrister Frances Joychild QC said the New Zealand Government was "in pretty dodgy territory".
But Whittaker's only started this action in the past week so is yet to file an official complaint.
"I'm thinking 'why is the Government not looking after these New Zealanders who are desperate to come home? Why are they not fixing the problem? Why has it left somebody like me to try and get these people home?'" she asked.
"I'm a nurse, I'm a paramedic, I look after people, that's what I do. Why is the Government not looking after these people? They deserve to be looked after."
When approached for comment, the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, which runs New Zealand's MIQ facilities, directed 1 NEWS' questions to their media centre website for more information.
The website states: "Managed Isolation and Quarantine is aware that travelling around the world right now is not simple or easy and acknowledges that there are many people in really difficult situations as a result of this global pandemic.
"The primary role of Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) is to keep Covid-19 out of New Zealand and part of that is managing the flow of people into the country. MIQ has served New Zealand well, helping to bring more than 160,000 people here, while protecting the freedoms that we all now enjoy.
MBIE did not specifically respond to Whittaker's upset or updated figures in MIQ rooms and the amount of people trying to access them.
Instead, it's website says: "We want to be able to bring everyone home who wants to return but we have to do that in a safe, managed way. For New Zealand, that number is about 4000 rooms a fortnight, which is more rooms per-capita than Australia has.
"The reality is that demand for space in managed isolation facilities is always high, and there is finite capacity within the MIQ system, and that’s for good reason – Covid-19 is raging around the world and we need to keep New Zealand safe."
The website says new booking vouchers are released "a few times a week".
"We advise people to keep checking the system for available dates. Vouchers are usually released once airlines have confirmed their schedules with MIQ. At the moment, most of August has been released but only 40 per cent of November has been released. So we’ll keep releasing progressively.
"For people overseas who have been unable to secure a voucher via the Managed Isolation Allocation System and need to travel urgently, they are able to apply for an emergency allocation."
Last week Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said they were currently reviewing the booking system and working out ways on how they could ensure every user had a fair chance at securing a spot.
"We’re having another look at how we can ensure fairness in that system, so for example, the speed of someone’s internet connection," he said.
"Of course I feel for New Zealanders who are finding themselves around the rest of the world and want to come back to New Zealand."
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