KUALA LUMPUR:Malaysia’s borders remain closed to foreigners as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said under this policy, citizens from 23 high-risk countries including Bangladesh could not enter the country except with special permission from the Immigration Department.

"Bangladesh is one of the 23 countries subject to tightened entry requirements because they are categorised as high-risk countries for COVID-19.

"The Immigration Department has yet to change this policy or propose to the government to relax the requirements (for entry of foreign workers),” he said here today.

However, Ismail Sabri said the Malaysian government was prepared to discuss this matter with Bangladesh’s representatives.

He said this at a press conference on the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) at Wisma Pertahanan when asked if Malaysia would allow Bangladeshi workers stranded in their home country to return to Malaysia to work despite the travel restriction.

Apart from Bangladesh, the other countries on Malaysia’s restricted list are the United States, Brazil, India, Russia, Peru, Colombia, South Africa, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Iran, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, France, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Iraq, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, on The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) examinations, Ismail Sabri said the Higher Education Ministry (KPT) had not said whether it would withdraw the approval for holding the examinations.

“I was told that KPT would proceed with it by tightening the standard operating procedure (SOP) in terms of physical distancing and limiting the time spent on the examinations,” he said.

However, he said discussions would be held with KPT to see if the examinations should proceed.

Asked on employers who defied the Conditional Movement Control Order by holding meetings, he said action including the imposition of compounds could be taken against them.

-- BERNAMA