PETALING JAYA: The High Commission of Malaysia in London has been swamped with calls for help from Malaysians students stranded in the UK. It was said to have received 1,500 requests from students to help them return home within the next two months
A letter emailed to theSun by Dr. Arvinder Singh HS highlighted the plight of the students who have valid student visas up to the May 31. Some whom had renewed in February were given an extension only until the end of this month.
“Those who attempted to renew their student visas beyond May have been denied by the Home Office,” Arvinder said.
“They are expected to leave the UK before their visas expire. Some said that they might be given a leeway of a few days. Thereafter, they will face punitive action for overstaying.”
Arvinder said he received a message on his twitter account and personal WhatsApp messages from Malaysians students currently in the UK.
“To make is all worse, the students will be sitting for their exams soon between May 25-29 and they are distracted by this problem,” he said.
“Those fortunate enough to have their spouses and families with them will have some form a relief as they can leave them to solve this as they focus on studying. I can only imagine those without any family who might be suffering emotionally- especially on what will happen to them after May 31.”
He said the students are not able to book or obtain any flight home as there are no flights available from London to Malaysia.
They have the following options of air return. They could fly to Istanbul then to Malaysia, but Turkey has recently blocked entries from the UK, including those connecting flights, Arvinder pointed out.
“To fly to Qatar, face a 24-48 hour wait before getting the connecting flight to KLIA,” he said and ruled out flying to Singapore as the island republic has blocked entry with its circuit breaker restrictions.
“As we know, many countries like Malaysia have tightened their borders after the pandemic Covid-19 began to take the country by storm. This has made travel (even on an emergency) really difficult and near impossible.
“We have all read, heard and perhaps in some cases, seen, complaints and pleas by parents and pubic for authorities to help bring back their children and loved ones from overseas during this lockdown period.
“I must congratulate the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in their successful missions to bring our citizens back especially from India.”
Arvinder urged the authorities especially Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to look into this and get our Malaysians back safely.
