While many Malaysians have been repatriated after being stranded abroad amid global lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of Malaysians in Oman has not been so lucky in their efforts to return home.

One of the Malaysians currently stuck in Oman, Mastura Badzis, is a child psychology lecturer from the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) who was a visiting professor at the Sultan Qaboos University in the Oman capital of Muscat when the Covid-19 pandemic started.

After they encountered challenge after challenge in trying to get back to Malaysia, Mastura said many of them are now becoming more stressed as they have lost their jobs or have sickly parents or pregnant wives among other issues.

The Muscat repatriation efforts began on May 17, she said, when the Omani government sent ...