The Malaysian foreign ministry (Wisma Putra) is also liaising with the relevant agencies in the Philippines to sort out the problem.

“Wisma Putra is liaising with relevant agencies to facilitate the process smoothly.

“The Malaysian government will always continue to uphold and protect the rights of our fellow ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (Malaysian Family),” said a tweet from Wisma Putra commenting on the matter.

Malaysian media reported that the 13 were part of a group of 15 who had travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Manila yesterday.

They were refused entry into the republic and told that the Malaysian digital vaccine certificate in the MySejahtera mobile application was not acceptable proof of vaccination.

The affected travellers told the Malaysian media that their passports were confiscated and they were told that they would be deported tomorrow. They had to remain at the airport in the meantime as no hotel facilities were provided.

It was also reported that the Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines had met the stranded passengers at the airport and was working on an appeal for vaccination reciprocity, but had yet to receive a response from the Philippine authorities.