SEPANG: A total 47 Malaysian students who were taken out of Sana'a and Hodeidah, Yemen, following the turmoil in the country, arrived safely home Tuesday.
The group arrived at the KL International Airport (KLIA) via a Malaysia Airlines flight MH151 from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, landing at 11.58am.
Their arrival was received by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Khir Baharom, Malaysian Islamic Development Department director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha and representatives of the Foreign and Education Ministries.
They were part of the 121 Malaysian students who were scheduled to arrive home in stages.
The subsequent groups would arrive home on three flights, namely, Sri Lankan Airlines at 2.05pm, an Emirates aircraft an hour later and lastly, via Qatar Airways, at 8.50pm Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin said efforts to bring home the remaining Malaysian students in Yemen would be done until all were safely back in Malaysia.
He said the safety of Malaysians in Yemen was always top priority following the turmoil in the country.
"We will plan to bring out the second batch of students safely and fly them home. The process to evacuate them will be conducted smoothly from time to time," said the Larut Member of Parliament.
He was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Hasbullah Osman (BN-Gerik) who wanted to know the actual situation of Malaysians in Yemen and the follow up action of the ministry in ensuring their safety.
The second phase would involve efforts to bring home Malaysians in Aden and the Hadramaut region.
To the original question by Wong Sze Phin (DAP-Kota Kinabalu), Hamzah said Malaysia's role as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was important by cementing ties with numerous nations.
He said Malaysia would always share the experience at the regional level.
Wong wanted to know about the government's plans in terms of South East Asian regional and international cooperation as a non-permanent member of the UNSC in overcoming security problems on the east coast of Sabah.
Hamzah said Asean nations always boosted cooperation in tackling various security issues in the region including exchanging information and experience between government agencies such as the Defence Ministry, Home Ministy and Communication and Multimedia Ministry. - Bernama
