SEREMBAN: The Cabinet has approved an evacuation plan for Malaysians in the Middle East should the regional conflict escalate, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.
However, the Foreign Minister said the Government had no plans to do so for now as the situation in the region was still under control.
"We monitor the situation in the region daily and sometimes up to three times a day and there is no indication that we need to evacuate Malaysians from there.
"In fact, some countries have already reopened their airspace allowing commercial airlines to send people stranded at their airports to return to their countries," he told reporters after opening the Khatam Al-Quran event at the NSWO hall here.
He said Malaysian missions in countries in the region as well as Wisma Putra's operations room have remained open 24 hours to assist Malaysians.
The Cabinet, he said, had approved the plan to allow the Government to quickly trigger the plan in case the situation worsened.
Mohamad said at present, there were some 31,000 Malaysians living in the region in countries like Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and others.
He said the Government's priority now was to bring home about 2,300 Malaysians stranded there including those who had gone to perform their pilgrimage in Mecca and those on transit.
"We are also advising those who wish to go perform their umrah for example to defer their plans for now as the situation is fluid and anything can happen at any time.
"On our part, we will be issuing daily updates so that Malaysians know if the situation there was really safe," he said.
Mohamad said several airlines including Malaysian carriers, Qatar Airways and Emirates have resumed daily flights to bring back Malaysians stuck in airports in the region.
He said Emirates for example which had three flights daily to Kuala Lumpur have resumed with single flights a day for now.
"Our focus is to bring back those stranded after Saudi Arabia, for example, closed its airspace for several days causing many pilgrims to be stuck.
"We also have Malaysians who were on transit in the Middle East from Paris, London and New York for example and who have been stuck in airports such as Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and need to be brought back home," he said adding that Malaysian carriers can also consider chartering flights to bring back these passengers.
Mohamad said on its part, the Government has plans to transport Malaysians stuck in Bahrain to be taken by road to either Muscat in Oman or Jeddah or Riyadh in Saudi Arabia so they can be flown home.
He also advised Malaysians working and living in the region to avoid places such as army bases as these were being targeted by Iran.
"Our missions in some countries including Malaysians living in countries like Qatar and UAE have been telling us the situation is okay but they need to avoid such places.
"It is my hope that Malaysians here will remain calm and not necessarily be taken in by what they see and hear," he said.
Mohamad also urged Malaysians in the region to register and stay in contact with their respective missions to allow the Government to stay in touch with them.
He also urged those who had been stranded there to update the missions when they depart so that the Government would know they were safe.
Mohamad Hasan, Middle East, Evacuation Plan, Wisma Putra, Malaysians Abroad, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Flights, Conflict
