Joint Malaysia-Brunei effort brings stranded citizens back home

PUTRAJAYA: The cordial and special relations between Malaysia and Brunei has enabled a joint effort by the two countries to bring the people stranded each other’s country back home.

On Saturday, 84 Malaysians who were stranded in Egypt joined Bruneians in a flight chartered by the Brunei government to bring its citizens back to Bandar Seri Begawan and the Malaysians are now safely in Kuala Lumpur.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar in a statement yesterday said the Malaysian government on its part, assisted the Brunei government to bring back about 134 of its citizens stranded in Malaysia.

According to him, the Brunei nationals took a Malaysia Airlines flight which arrived at Bandar Seri Begawan Airport at 5.15 am yesterday.

“The aircraft later brought the 84 Malaysians who arrived from Egypt and another 25 Malaysians who were stranded in Brunei back to Kuala Lumpur at 12.11 pm,” he said.

On behalf of the Yang diPertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the government and people of Malaysia, Kamarudin thanked the Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah for allowing 84 Malaysians to join the flight sent by Brunei.

He also said the effort would not be possible without the strong bilateral cooperation including the involvement of the Brunei High Commission in Putrajaya, the Malaysian High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan, the Malaysian Embassy in Egypt, Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS), Health Ministry and the Immigration Department.

Kamarudin said the government would continue to look into the ensuring the safety, health and welfare of Malaysians stranded in foreign countries and is committed to extend its assistance.

“In this situation, the government welcomes cooperation with any parties wishing to help bring stranded Malaysians back,” he said.