SA student stuck in Kuala Lumpur amid lockdown
The family of a 26-year old South African student is pleading with the government to assist with his repatriation from Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
University of Cape Town (UCT) student Allan Huysamen has been stuck at the Malaysian airport for six days, according to his family.
Allan’s sister Monique Huysamen says her brother was flying back from a holiday.
The flight, which was meant to take him to Doha and subsequently South Africa, was redirected to Kuala Lumpur.
“He has had a pretty rough time for the last six days, they’ve made no provisions for them, they have been sleeping on benches. Yesterday the airline finally brought them some aircraft blankets. They’ve been having to pay to have showers and having to buy food at the airport with no care for their well-being,” Monique says.
Malaysia has banned international travel since entering a lockdown on March 18.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced last week Wednesday that the lockdown will further be extended by another two-weeks.
Despite these restrictions both from the local and Malaysian government, Monique remains hopeful that SA authorities will be able to help.
“We just hope the SA government is going to pull through and do what they should to be doing to repatriate Allan and the other South Africans in Malaysia and across the world,” adds Monique.