PUTRAJAYA, July 6 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The government is working to facilitate the return of Malaysians stranded abroad, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Monday.
He said the Foreign Ministry had identified 10,484 Malaysians who are currently stranded or may potentially be stranded overseas.
“Those who may potentially be stranded are the final year students who will be graduating soon, and they have to return home. If they cannot return, they will be among the stranded Malaysian citizens,” he told the press conference on the development of the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) here Monday.
The minister, however, said that there were still some restrictions in those countries (where Malaysians are stranded), including the ban on international flights.
Ismail Sabri said the meeting of the Special Ministerial Committee on the Movement Control Order had also agreed to ask the Wisma Putra to present their report on the status of Malaysians abroad, which numbered approximately 457,000.
Of the total, he said 387,702 were already registered with Malaysian embassies or high commissions, and those who had yet to register were advised to immediately do so.
“We care about our fellow Malaysians who are still stranded overseas because some of the countries were listed as high risk…it’s worrying,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said the Foreign Minister had also been asked to propose the plan and costs for the repatriation of all Malaysians abroad.
He said the meeting also proposed for the COVID-19 Fund under the National Disaster Management Agency NADMA) to be expanded to help bring those stranded Malaysians home.
On the RMCO standard operating procedures (SOP) compliance operations, Ismail Sabri said the police had arrested 251 people for defying the order.
Of the total, he said 111 were remanded, while 140 others were compounded for engaging in activities that violated the SOP.