KUCHING, March 4: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through a concerted diplomatic and consular efforts, has successfully repatriated eight Malaysians who were left stranded in Monrovia, Liberia, since Feb 4.
All the stranded Malaysians, who were allegedly cheated by a local Malaysian job syndicate, were from Sarawak.
In a statement today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that its minister, Dato Saifuddin Abdullah, had sent a letter to his counterpart in Liberia, Gbehzohgar M. Findley, to notify him of the stranded Malaysians and subsequently requested the government of Liberia’s assistance for repatriation.
In order to ensure the success of this mission, the ministry also dispatched two officials as Special Envoys to Monrovia on Feb 26.
This is the second successful effort by the government following the release of 47 Malaysians from detention in Cambodia recently.
“The Government of Malaysia would like to express its deepest appreciation to the Government of Liberia for its kind assistance and cooperation to release and repatriate the Malaysians,” said the statement.
After obtaining the necessary travel documents and approval from the Liberian authorities, the eight departed for Kuala Lumpur yesterday, together with the Special Envoys.
Their arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 3.30 pm today were received by Saifuddin and ministry officials. They will depart for Sarawak via an AirAsia aircraft at 6.55pm today.
The statement from Putrajaya added that Sime Darby, a Malaysian company operating in Liberia, had also rendered the necessary assistance by ensuring the welfare of the stranded Malaysians were being taken care of before the arrival of the Special Envoys and while discussions with the Liberian authorities took place.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seriously monitoring cases involving job syndicate overseas that offer lucrative pays.
“The Ministry is deeply concerned about the increase of such cases and would like to advise Malaysians to verify any job offer, especially from overseas, before accepting it.
“This includes thorough scrutiny of the employment contract, obtaining a valid working visa as well as getting the respective Malaysian Missions’ advice beforehand,” it highlighted. — DayakDaily
