A total of 126 Malaysian students were detained by the Egyptian authorities last Monday for student visa offences.

Mohd Husaini Zainuddin, the second secretary at the Malaysian Embassy in Cairo, said the students aged between 10 and 22, were held for not having valid student visas.

Mohd Husaini said the students attended a tahfiz school in A Sharqia.

"They were then taken to the Al Sharqia Regional Police Training Centre to have their statements recorded and placed under police supervision.

"On Feb 28, the Egyptian National Security Service made a decision to deport 104 of the students while the rest were released under the supervision of the embassy," he added when contacted by Bernama today.

Mohd Husaini said they were expected to be deported in two groups, tomorrow and on Sunday.

He believes that the failure of the particular tahfiz school to register under Al Azhar School Sector had led the Egyptian authorities to decide not to issue visas to the students involved.

- Bernama