23,955 Malaysians stranded in 82 countries brought home

CORONAVIRUS | The government has so far brought home 23,955 Malaysians stranded in 82 countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

The latest involved 143 Malaysians who were brought back from Jordan along with 120 Thai nationals via a flight arranged by the Royal Thai Embassy in Amman which arrived this morning.

Hishammuddin (above) said stranded Malaysians were brought home through various means and with the help of several parties including the private sector as well as friends from other countries.

"As of yesterday, there are still 317 Malaysians who are still stranded in 37 countries," he told a press conference at the Parliament Building today.

Of the total, Hishammuddin said 191 were categorised as being in a critical situation, 189 of whom were tabligh members who were stranded in India and were facing legal action for abusing their social visit visa.

He said the government had also identified 10,159 Malaysians who may potentially be stranded overseas, of whom 9,270 are final year students.

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said Malaysia welcomed the United States' decision to lift the ban on international students from being in that country if their classes for the next semester were conducted online.

He described the decision as a relief as his ministry had also sent a protest note to the US over the matter.

"That's good news. I know that the matter has become a major concern to our students in the US," he said.

Foreign media today reported that the US has agreed to rescind rules, announced on July 6, that would bar international students from staying in the US if they take classes online.

Federal judge Allison Burroughs who presided over a hearing on a lawsuit filed last week by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) against the federal directive seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to prohibit the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from enforcing the rules, on Tuesday said the government had agreed to withdraw the decision.

- Bernama