PETALING JAYA: The Foreign Ministry today said they have made arrangements to bring home over 1,500 citizens collectively in Iran, India and Italy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those stranded in Italy, however, will need to wait a little longer as discussions are still ongoing in light of the European nation’s decision to bar planes from landing.
In a broadcasted press conference today on Facebook Live, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar (pix) said the AirAsia flight from Tehran, Iran is scheduled to arrive at 6.10am tomorrow.
There will be 46 Malaysians along with eight Singaporeans and one Indonesian onboard the flight. The Singaporeans and Indonesian were brought back based on agreement with their respective countries.
As for the 1,519 Malaysians stranded in India, six AirAsia planes will bring home 1,116 of them from Chennai and Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu state.
The remaining 403 will be brought home on two Malaysia Airlines flights from Chennai and Mumbai.
Kamarudin did not mention the scheduled date of departure or arrival.
There are also 82 Malaysians in Italy, registered with the Malaysian embassy in Rome, but could not board any flights as there was a ban on all flights by the country.
“For now, Wisma Putra is doing all we can including having discussions with the Italian government to allow us special permission for our repatriate mission from Italy as soon as possible,” the minister said.
Kamarudin stressed that all that were brought back from other countries will have to be quarantined at public learning institutes that have been designated.
“The quarantine process is important to observe the health levels and provide treatment when necessary,“ he said.
