Eighteen families, comprising 37 adults and 31 children, left the Bekaa Valley camp in Beirut, Lebanon last night, and arrived in Malaysia via an AirAsia flight this morning.

They will now be provided with temporary shelter by the Malaysian government as a result of the ongoing conflict in their home country.

According to Zahid, the government is committed to fulfill Prime Minister Najib Razak’s promise to bring in 3,000 Syrian refugees to the country. Najib had made the commitment at the United Nations general assembly in October last year.

Zahid noted that by year-end, the government hoped to provide shelter to 500 Syrian migrants.

He also confirmed that the arrival of the refugees is on a temporary placement basis, adding that they are provided with an emergency declaration certificate, a document that will allow them to reside temporarily in Malaysia.

Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said the initial aim was to bring in 150 migrants as part of the second batch, however following screenings which included health, security and documentation, only 68 had gotten through.

“What we will do is place these 18 families in temporary residences,” he said, adding they will be housed in three-room apartments.

Meanwhile, Zahid expressed his gratitude to the various companies that had come forward to sponsor the families, in terms of their necessities.

“I personally wrote to some companies to act as sponsors and there are not less than 11 companies with us today,” he said.

The first batch of migrants from conflict-ridden Syria arrived in December and was made up of three families.