Lebanon Stabbing, 40 Indonesian Citizens In The Fourth Wave Evacuated By Land

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) of the Republic of Indonesia evacuated 40 Indonesian citizens (WNI) in Lebanon by land amid an escalation of conflicts that were considered to endanger safety.

"This 40 (WNI) must be evacuated by land because the air is getting more difficult, the air space has opened and closed," said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in an official statement received in Jakarta, Friday, October 11.

Foreign Minister Retno explained that the evacuation of the land route started from Beirut to Damascus, Syria, then to Amman, Jordan. From Amman, then Indonesian citizens will go to Jakarta via air.

The 40 Indonesian citizens, he continued, are the fourth and fifth waves of the Indonesian evacuation process. In detail, as many as 20 people departed from Beirut on October 2, and 20 others plus one foreign national who is a couple from Indonesian citizens departed on October 3.

"It means 40 plus one has arrived in Safe on October 4 and on October 7 he has arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport," he said.

Furthermore, Minister Retno said that the Indonesian Embassy in Beirut had previously raised its status in Lebanon to standby 1 on August 4, 2024. As planned, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Embassy have prepared an evacuation process and communicated with Indonesian citizens.

At that time 25 Indonesian citizens said they were willing to be evacuated, the rest said they were not willing. From the request for evacuation, the Indonesian Embassy in the following evacuated 25 Indonesian citizens by air in stages.

The first wave of evacuation occurred on August 10 with a total of 13 Indonesian citizens and the second wave on August 18 carrying 7 Indonesian citizens. Then, the third wave on August 8 consists of 5 Indonesian citizens.

Then on September 27, when Hasan Nasrallah was killed, the situation was escalated and there were an additional 40 Indonesian citizens who said they were willing to be evacuated whose departures to Indonesia were in the fourth and fifth waves.

"Now we see that the Israeli attack is increasingly intensive, including in Beirut. And the Indonesian Embassy has again received requests for evacuation of 14 Indonesian citizens. The evacuation was carried out through the Beirut air route, Jeddah, Dubai, Jakarta," said Retno.

The sixth wave of 14 Indonesian citizens took off from Beirut on October 9 and arrived at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on October 10.

"Thus, friends, Indonesian citizens who have been successfully evacuated as of October 10, are 79 Indonesian citizens plus one foreign national who is a species from Indonesian citizens," he explained.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Embassy in Beirut recorded that currently 85 Indonesian citizens are still in Lebanon. The majority are Indonesian citizens who are married to Lebanese citizens and do not want to be evacuated.