SEREMBAN: The Cabinet has approved an evacuation plan for Malaysians in the Middle East should the conflict escalate further, says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan (pic).
The Cabinet, he said, had approved the plan to allow the government to quickly trigger the measures in case the situation worsens.
However, there are no plans to do so for now as the situation is still under control, he said.
“We monitor the situation daily, sometimes up to three times a day. 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 fly stranded passengers back to their countries or destinations,” he told reporters after an event here.
At present, there are some 31,000 Malaysians in countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Mohamad stated that the government’s current priority is to repatriate about 2,300 citizens who are stranded, including those who travelled to perform umrah in Mecca and those in transit.
“We are also advising those who wish to perform their umrah to defer their plans for now, as the situation is fluid.
“On our part, we will be issuing daily updates so that Malaysians know if the situation there is really safe,” he said.
Mohamad also advised Malaysians who are working and living in the Middle East to avoid places such as army bases.
“Our missions have been telling us that the situation is okay, but they need to avoid such places,” he said.
The minister urged Malaysians there to register and stay in contact with their respective missions to allow authorities to stay in touch.
He also urged those stranded to update the missions when they leave so that the government knows they are safe.
On a separate matter, Mohamad said Barisan Nasional is prepared to discuss any proposal from the Negri Sembilan government to amend state laws to limit the tenure of the Mentri Besar to two terms.
“Since this was a pledge made by the state Pakatan Harapan in its election manifesto, they should discuss this with us as we are now part of the state government.
“We also need to know the reasons behind this as there are pros and cons and some may be of the opinion that we should not be too rigid,” he said.
In January, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun said his administration was prepared to table a motion during the next state assembly sitting to limit the tenure of the mentri besar to two terms.
Aminuddin, who is now serving his second term, said the state government had done this in 2021 but did not get enough votes in the assembly to get it passed.
