Harsimrat urges MEA to facilitate return of youth stuck in Malaysia

Families of the affected youth met Harsimrat at Badal village in Muktsar at the instance of Youth Akali Dal (YAD) leaders

Union food processing industries minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Saturday urged the external affairs minister S Jaishankar to take up the issue of repatriation of more than 350 Punjabi youths, who are languishing in Malaysia even after completion of their jail sentences for illegal stay, with the Malaysian government.

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Families of the affected youth met Harsimrat at Badal village in Muktsar at the instance of Youth Akali Dal (YAD) leaders. The family members told the minister that their kin are currently detained in camps in Malaysia after completion of their prison sentences for illegal stay. The youth had been duped by travel agents who had taken them to Malaysia on the pretext of employment but they had to fend for themselves and in the process, they overstayed in Malaysia.

After listening to them, the Union minister called up the Indian high commissioner in Malaysia and asked him to help the youth in every possible way and ensure their safety and security.

She also requested the high commissioner to depute an officer from the embassy to visit the youth and facilitate their communication with their families in Punjab.

YAD president Parambans Romana said feedback states that some of the stranded youth did not have any funds to purchase a return ticket. “The YAD will bear the travel expenses of such youths,” he said in a statement issued by the office of the Union minister.