He said Malaysians living in countries that had a high number of Covid-19 cases had the right to return home.

“This is the guarantee given in the Constitution and the Immigration Act also states that the government cannot prevent our people from returning home,” he said in his daily press conference here today.

He was asked to comment on the proposal for the government to restrict the entry of travellers – including Malaysians – from countries that had recorded new strains of Covid-19, such as the UK, South Africa and Hong Kong.

Ismail said, however, Malaysians returning from such countries would have to undergo quarantine and follow strict SOPs.

On restricting the entry of tourists from the countries mentioned, he said Malaysia had yet to open its borders to foreign tourists.

In September, the government stopped allowing long-term visit pass holders from 23 countries that had recorded more than 150,000 positive Covid-19 cases from entering Malaysia. The list includes South Africa and UK.

In another development, Ismail said the government would impose stricter SOPs for areas under conditional movement control order and recovery movement control order if it received advice from the health ministry.

He said the government hoped that the people would be more responsible by complying with the set SOPs to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“If the people fail to comply and the health ministry feels the need to return to the original SOP (as set during the first MCO), which is much tighter, then I do not rule it out being implemented,” he said.