By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Mar 21: The federal government has been unsuccessful in its attempt to repatriate stranded Malaysians in Italy.
According to deputy foreign affairs minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, efforts to bring back Malaysians who are residing and travelling to Italy have failed after the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) had disallowed the landing of commercial aircraft.
“We are still waiting for the approval from the Italian government. The ministry hopes that this mission can be accomplished in the near future,” he said during a press conference at Wisma Putra in Putrajaya today.
Yesterday, Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob revealed that there were 94 Malaysians still in Italy and stated that they would be transported back to Malaysia on March 23.
In the meantime, Kamarudin said the government was working towards transporting 1,519 Malaysians who were stranded in India.
“The government is working to send two MAS aircraft to Chennai and Mumbai.
“Plans are underway to send three chartered flights to Chennai and three more to Trichy with a capacity of 186 passengers each to transport Malaysians who have bought their air tickets home,” he said.
Kamarudin disclosed that the government was finalising the plan which includes the logistics aspect and aircraft approval to transport Malaysians who are stranded in India back to Malaysia.
He revealed that there were 1,519 Malaysians stranded in various locations in India such as in Chennai, Trichy, New Delhi, Banglore, Mumbai and Cochin.
Kamarudin stressed that those who will be brought home will be subject to a 14-day quarantine period.
On Malaysians stranded in Iran, he said a special chartered AirAsia aircraft had been flown to Tehran at 11.45 am today to assist in the repatriation process of Malaysians in Iran.
Ismail Sabri, who is Defence Minister noted that there are 55 Malaysians who are stranded in Iran and Malaysia will be transporting them back to the country tomorrow (March 22). —DayakDaily
