The Ministry Of Law And Human Rights Affirms That The Return Of Dozens Of Australian Foreigners From Bali Is Not Repatriation

DENPASAR - Head of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of Bali Province, Jamaruli Manihuruk, confirmed that as many as 186 people went to Australia via I Gusti Ngurah Rai Airport, Bali, were not repatriated.

"So this is not repatriation. If the repatriation includes all Australian citizens, this is a normal return", said Jamaruli in Denpasar, Bali, Wednesday, August 18.

He emphasized that those who went to Australia were not only Australians. Of the 186 people, there were 80 Indonesian citizens, 97 Australian citizens, 2 British citizens, 1 German citizen, 1 Irish citizen, 3 New Zealand citizens, 1 Turkish citizen, and 1 Syrian citizen.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian citizens who flew on the plane were Indonesian citizens who already had permanent or permanent residence permits in Australia. Most of the returning Australians have lived in Bali for a long time.

"Some have been around for almost a year, it's natural to want to meet their families", he added.

Jamaruli said the return of the Australian citizen was a commercial flight carried out by a private party. Meanwhile, the Australian government only helps to facilitate permits so that they can depart from Bali.

In addition, the passengers also paid for the tickets and they just returned to Australia because so far there have been no international flights from Bali to Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Because so far it's not allowed, but those who want to go home still have to pay for tickets. So, instead of being funded by the state such as evacuation, the plane passengers are not all Australians like repatriation", said Jamaruli.