KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — A total of 9,761 Malaysians have been successfully repatriated from 63 countries where they were previously stranded due to travel restrictions imposed amid the worsening Covid-19 pandemic.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Kamaruddin Jaffar said all the stranded Malaysians were brought home safely through special chartered and commercial flights as well as by land and sea transportation.

Kamaruddin also said Wisma Putra was awaiting clearance from Indian authorities to repatriate Malaysians stranded in Chennai, India as the original flight had been scheduled to depart on April 14.

"Wisma Putra and the Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi will continue to negotiate with the Indian government to enable the flight’s takeoff soon.

"The Consulate General of Malaysia in Chennai have also rendered consular assistance including accommodation and meals to those affected by the situation,” he said in a press conference here.

To date, Kamaruddin said 2,873 Malaysians were brought home safely through 21 flights.

Kamaruddin also said the Turkish government has given special clearance for a flight from Malaysia to land at Istanbul, Turkey and repatriate 354 stranded Malaysians there.

According to Kamaruddin, the stranded Malaysians consisted of tourists, short-term visitors and those affected by blockades imposed by the Turkish government to curb the spread of Covid-19.

"Their flight is scheduled to depart tonight and they are expected to arrive home at 10.20am tomorrow,” he said, adding that Malaysia was grateful to the Turkish government for their cooperation.

On Malaysians stranded in N’Djamena, Chad, since March 19 following the closure of it’s international airport, Kamaruddin said the ministry was studying the best method to repatriate them including the use of a special chartered flight to bring home Malaysians in several other African nations.

Kamaruddin said a total of four Malaysians representing Yayasan Amal Malaysia were in Chad for a humanitarian mission and were supposed to return home on March 19.

Due to security issues and logistic problems, however, he said the suggestion to bring the Malaysians through land to the Malaysian High Commission located 1,200km away in Abuja, Nigeria was therefore not recommended.

He also touched on humanitarian missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina, whereby Malaysia had agreed to provide aid to the southeastern Europe country in the form of medicinal anti-malaria prescriptions amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The aid, delivered through a special AirAsia chartered flight, arrived at Sarajevo at 10.30pm local time yesterday.

At the same time, eight stranded Malaysians in Montenegro are expected to arrive tomorrow at 10.20am after they were successfully repatriated with the help of the government of Montenegro.

Lastly, Kamaruddin said the ministry and relevant agencies were in the midst of fine-tuning the form of aid and contribution that could be channelled to Palestine to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country.