86 Malaysians stranded in Egypt to return home tomorrow - Kamarudin

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 -- A total of 86 Malaysians will be flown from Cairo, Egypt on a Brunei government-chartered plane to Bandar Seri Begawan tomorrow.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar said they would be brought home aboard Malaysia Airlines (MAS) special flight on the same day and are expected to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 11.25 am tomorrow.

"Taking into account the special bilateral relations between Malaysia and Brunei, the government has also agreed to ferry back 142 Brunei citizens who are stranded in Malaysia onboard the same MAS aircraft," he said via social media on the latest development in the overseas Malaysian repatriation process. 

He said the Malaysian government also thanked the Brunei government for its willingness to bring home Malaysians stranded in Egypt.

In a related development, Kamarudin said 18 Malaysian who are stranded in Maldives, would be brought back via a joint effort with an airline company, Weststar Aviation. 

Kamarudin also expressed his gratitude to the local airline for helping to bring back the Malaysian group with the cost of flight to be fully funded by the airline.

Kamarudin said to date, the number of Malaysians still stranded overseas has increased to 3,616 in 58 countries.

He said the increase was inevitable as more countries carry out border control exercise to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This includes suspending international flights by commercial aircraft, he said, adding India recorded the highest number of Malaysians stranded overseas at 1,988 people.

-- BERNAMA