THREE hundred and six Malaysians arrived from Bangladesh and Italy yesterday as a result of the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s (MoFA) efforts to repatriate Malaysians who were stranded in the two countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar (picture) said the first group from Bangladesh, consisting 225 Malaysians, arrived at 5.46am yesterday and were brought back via a special flight operated by Malaysia Airlines Bhd.

“Those who returned were made up of 130 students, 55 employees from Medan Malaysia Hospital at Cox’s Bazaar, 35 expatriates and five dependents of the Malaysian High Commission Dhaka officers,” he said.

All of the returning nationals have to undergo the quarantine process of 14 days as determined by the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Subsequently, 81 people who returned from Italy arrived at 10am, including 34 players and eight officers of the Malaysian Embassy, Rome and Holy See, as well as their family members.

“All of them were taken aboard a special rental aircraft from AirAsia Bhd, which also carried 17 crew members and seven civil servants, one from the MoFA, one from the National Disaster Management Agency and five from the MoH.

“Upon arrival in Malaysia, all will undergo the quarantine process at the Higher Education Leadership Academy for 14 days as prescribed by the MoH,” he said.

To date, 2,417 of Malaysians have returned from over 26 countries, including the ones that were brought back via yesterday’s flights.