By NNN-Bernama,
Dubai : Malaysians residing in the United Arab Emiratesm (UAE) have opened up their homes to Malaysian students fleeing troubled Egypt, where anti-government protestors have vowed to put an end to President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.
The volunteers are offering temporary shelter to the students while arrangements are being made by their parents or guardians to get airline tickets to fly them back to Malaysia via a number of airports in this Gulf nation.
“The response among the Malaysian residents has been overwhelming, not only from those living in Dubai but also other emirates like Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah,” Malaysian Association in the UAE (My-UAE) president, Rusli Leman, told Bernama when contacted.
He said My-UAE had also launched a donation drive to assist students who may have financial difficulties.
One of the volunteers, Omar Musa, told Bernama that a group of seven female students arrived Wednesday evening at Sharjah airport on an Air Arabia flight from Egypt’s second largest city, Alexandria.
They are now staying with Malaysian families in the Dubai suburb of Qusais.
Omar indicated that another batch of up to eight students was expected to arrive in Dubai Thursday night on a Flydubai flight from Alexandria.
Elaborating, he said a Malaysian attached with Flydubai had managed to secure tickets not only for his relative studying in Alexandria but also other Malaysian students wanting to get out of the city.
“I’m really grateful to my fellow Malaysians who have opened up their homes for the students where they’ll stay for maybe two or three days before they get tickets to fly home to Malaysia,” said Omar, who is coordinating the effort.
He expressed hope that Malaysians in the UAE would donate generously to assist the students.
“We may consider buying plane tickets for some of the students if their families are not able to raise enough money to do so,” he added.