121 Malaysians stranded in Myanmar arrive home

A TOTAL of 121 Malaysians stranded in Laukkaing, northern Myanmar, following unrest in the region, were evacuated and brought home today.

The group, the majority of whom were victims of job scams in northern Myanmar, was flown to Malaysia via a special AirAsia flight from Kunming, China and it included an Indonesian citizen who had been stranded in Laukkaing as well.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin said the 121 were among 128 Malaysians who were caught in Laukkaing following a civil war that broke out in the region at the end of October.

“The other seven could not be brought home for several reasons but the government will keep abreast with the latest development and carry out further evacuations,” he told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport today.

Mohamad said two of them asked to be exempted from returning home, one was more than 1,000km away from the Chinese border, three others were not at the meeting point at the stipulated time, while another was barred from entering China as he had a criminal record in the country.

According to a statement issued by Wisma Putra, the Malaysian embassy in Yangon and the Consulate-General of Malaysia in Kunming carried out the evacuation via the Myanmar-China border on the morning of November 30 with the cooperation and approval of the countries involved.

Mohamad said the Malaysian embassy in Yangon had sent at least 10 diplomatic notes to the Myanmar government requesting assistance to help get the Malaysians out of the conflict area.

“We also worked closely with the Consulate-General of Malaysia in Kunming, as Kunming is the nearest area for them to be taken out through the Myanmar border.

“We received good cooperation from Myanmar and China on how to cross the border since the Malaysians did not have complete documents, but we received good cooperation regarding approval to cross the border,” he said.

He added that some of the 121 individuals are scheduled to give their statements to the police and undergo several legal processes while others will return to their families.

“Malaysians are reminded to be more vigilant when accepting job offers, especially on social media,” said Mohamad, who added that the Foreign Ministry would continue to increase public awareness about the dangers of job scams online. – Bernama, December 1, 2023.