SOME 450,000 Malaysians have been stranded overseas since the Covid-19 pandemic closed borders around the world, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He said Putrajaya has made efforts to repatriate as many of them as possible, but some attempts were not successful because certain countries still disallowed commercial flights.

“Many of our citizens are still stranded in Egypt and Oman. As of today, there are about 450,000 Malaysians abroad,” he said at a press conference today.

Of the number, 387,702 Malaysians have registered with Wisma Putra for help.

“We hope the rest can act fast and register so we can accommodate them.

“It is not that easy to bring all of them home because in some countries, commercial flights are not allowed to resume and some countries don’t even allow planes to land,” the defence minister added.

He said the Covid-19 fund will be utilised to bring home stranded Malaysians.

“We are discussing with Wisma Putra and looking at the cost of repatriation. Funds from the Covid-19 fund will be used to help bring Malaysians abroad home.” – July 6, 2020.