Malaysia bans entry of Indian, Indonesian, Philippine citizens

Malaysia will block citizens of India, Indonesia and the Philippines from entering the country starting Monday.

The restrictions will affect those with long-term passes, students, expatriates, permanent residents as well as family members of Malaysians, Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters in a televised press conference on Tuesday. All foreign tourists have been banned from entry since March.

Malaysia extended measures to curb the pandemic until the end of the year as the virus “is still actively spreading across the world,” Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said in a speech on Friday.

Philippines is followed by Indonesia in having the largest number of coronavirus cases in Southeast Asia, while India is grappling with total infections nearing 4 million. Malaysia’s government will continue to monitor the situation and may widen the restrictions if virus cases rise in more countries, said Ismail.