PUTRAJAYA, April 20 — Malaysia has welcomed the efforts of other nations to repatriate their citizens stranded in this country.
Senior Minister (security cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said should there be a need, their diplomatic representatives here can discuss repatriation matters with the Foreign Ministry.
“If there are nations who want to bring their stranded citizens home, then we welcome the efforts, just like what we are doing with our citizens stranded abroad.
“As such, we will always welcome such efforts if the other countries want to do the same for their citizens,” he said at the daily movement control order (MCO) media conference here today.
He also hoped the diplomatic representatives here would be able to take care of their citizens’ welfare throughout the MCO period.
In another development, Ismail Sabri said the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) will ensure travel arrangements of Malaysians who have completed their quarantine and ready to go home are taken care off, especially those from other states.
He said since April 3, some 13,777 Malaysians returning from abroad have undergone mandatory quarantine, and as of April 18, some 2,182 of them have completed the process and allowed to return home.
“Yesterday, 408 Malaysians who returned from abroad were put under mandatory quarantine,” he said while adding that there are 191 quarantine centres operating to date.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri, who is also Defence Minister, said the government has no plans so far to enlist Rukun Tetangga units to help enforce the MCO, adding that the responsibility should be left to trained uniformed bodies.
He also responded to claims by school bus operators who said they have been left out of the MCO aid packages, saying that the matter would be referred to the Finance Ministry.
— Bernama
