Foreign Minister Ensures That The Evacuation Of Indonesian Citizens From Gaza Begins To Be Carried Out

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi (central) conveyed information about the efforts to evacuate Indonesian citizens from Gaza, at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday (1/11/2023). (ANTARA/Yashinta Difa)

JAKARTA - Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the evacuation of Indonesian citizens (WNI) from Gaza, which is the center of the Israeli and Palestinian conflicts, began.

"The possibility of evacuation will be possible today. However, I would like to underline the word 'likely' because the situation on the ground is unpredictable," Retno said in a press conference reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, November 1.

The government has mobilized a team from Cairo to Rafah on the Egyptian-Palestinian border to evacuate Indonesian citizens from Gaza.

"After a layered inspection, our team from Cairo arrived at the Rafah in parts of Egypt at 15.53 WIB. Now we just have to see what happens in the (border) part of Gaza," said Retno.

Retno revealed that he had communicated with all parties who have assets in Gaza, and received information that the possibility of the evacuation of foreign nationals, including Indonesian citizens, would soon be carried out.

"However, the evacuation will most likely not be carried out at once but gradually by prioritizing safety," continued Retno.

"The situation is really very dynamic, but we need to make sure that if there is a trip (evacuation) then the trip must be guaranteed security from all parties so that the evacuation can be carried out safely," said Retno.

"Don't ask when the evacuation will be carried out, but what I can confirm is that we (the government) continue to try," he said.

Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens and BHI Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judha Nugraha revealed that 10 Indonesian citizens were in Gaza.

Of the ten Indonesian citizens, three Indonesian citizens from MER-C volunteers at the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, decided not to be evacuated.

"The three volunteers chose to continue to carry out humanitarian duties in Gaza and we respect the decision," said Judha.

Meanwhile, seven other people, consisting of two Indonesian families married to Palestinians, will be evacuated soon.

The evacuation of the Indonesian citizens will be carried out from their homes, respectively in northern Gaza and southern Gaza, to the Rafah border.