BANDAR BAHARU: The government is giving due attention to the complaints raised by families of wounded Palestinian children brought into the country for medical treatment.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said his ministry and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin have been working closely with the Palestinian embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
"The government is giving this issue due attention. I am always in contact with the Defence Ministry, and we are consistently communicating with the Palestine embassy in Malaysia.
"We are working closely with the Palestinian ambassador to Malaysia (Walid Abu Ali). We have established that the incident was an isolated case.
"In fact, he (Walid) has issued a statement to express his regret over the incident," he said after attending the Home Ministry's meet-the-people programme and the National Registration Department's 76th anniversary celebration at SK Permatang Pasir here today.
Present was National Registration Department director-general Badrul Hisham Alias.
Saifuddin was responding to a letter purportedly written by the Palestine embassy in Kuala Lumpur to the Defence Ministry, dated Sept 23, 2024.
In the letter, the embassy outlined several complaints raised by the Palestinians, including requests to return to Egypt
Among others, they were requesting to return to Egypt as they claimed that they had not been getting treatment or further medical check-up since they arrived in Malaysia on Aug 16.
The letter also cited a lack of basic needs for the families and children, limited communication with their families in Gaza and Egypt, and insufficient access to education for the children.
The embassy also highlighted concerns about movement restrictions imposed on the families at the army's Wisma Transit in Kuala Lumpur.
Saifuddin said the government's focus was to resolve the complaints raised by the Palestinians and create a more conducive and comfortable environment for them.
"As I have mentioned yesterday, if their stay in some other locations requires special passes, we will look into the Immigration Act, to address their complaints."
Yesterday evening, Saifuddin also said the Home Ministry is looking into the possibility of issuing different passes to the injured Palestinians to grant them more freedom.
He was addressing a recent incident involving two Palestinian women who were caught on video damaging property at Wisma Transit in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
The two women were part of a group of 127 Palestinian civilians who arrived in Malaysia on Aug 16 to receive medical treatment here, amid Israel's ongoing attack on Gaza since last year.