The Number Of Indonesian Citizens Exposed To COVID-19 Abroad Is Getting Higher, The Most In Singapore With 831 Cases

Providing social assistance packages to Indonesian citizens affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar. (HO-KBRI Doha/ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The number of Indonesian citizens (WNI) abroad who are exposed to COVID-19 is increasing. To date, there have been a total of 8,349 COVID-19 infection cases involving Indonesian citizens abroad.

This was conveyed by the Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Judha Nugraha, in a press briefing monitored from Jakarta, Thursday, February 3.

This figure reflects a number of spikes in different periods, namely in the period November-December 2021 as many as 242 cases, December 2021-January 2022 as many as 1,082 cases, while the increase in January-early February reached 974 cases.

"This is a common concern for us, how can we protect and prevent our Indonesian citizens from COVID-19 infection," said Judha as quoted by Antara.

He further explained that the largest number of Indonesian citizens infected with COVID-19 was in five countries, with the highest number in Singapore with a total of 831 cases.

Then followed by Qatar where as many as 809 Indonesian citizens were infected with COVID-19, followed by Brunei Darussalam with 648 cases, South Korea with 541 cases, and England with 422 cases.

Judha also said that his party continues to make various efforts to help Indonesian citizens infected with COVID-19 abroad, especially to gain access to local health facilities.

"In the observations of representatives so far, Indonesian citizens infected with COVID-19 so far have had easy access to health facilities in their local country," he explained.

The government also provides logistical assistance, especially for those affected by the mobility restriction policies implemented by a number of countries. According to him, those most at risk of being affected by such a policy are those who are vulnerable, namely Indonesian citizens with undocumented status and casual daily workers who rely on income from daily salaries. Throughout 2021, more than 236,000 logistical assistance packages have been distributed.

In addition to providing assistance to access health facilities and providing logistical assistance, his party has also provided repatriation facilities, especially for stranded Indonesian citizens, as well as building special features on various Ministry of Foreign Affairs platforms that make it easier for Indonesian citizens to access the latest news related to the development of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The encouragement to get vaccinated is also one of the efforts made, especially in countries and regions where there are large populations of Indonesian citizens, such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong.

According to him, all these countries provide access to vaccinations for the entire population, including migrant workers and migrant workers from Indonesia.

"The challenge is for our Indonesian citizens who have undocumented status, although the local government provides guarantees not to enforce the law, but rather enforce the health aspect, many of our Indonesian citizens are still afraid of the vaccination process," said Judha.

Regarding this, he said that a number of representatives had helped carry out the vaccination process on the premise of the Indonesian representative to be able to give confidence to Indonesian citizens with this status to be able to come and get vaccinated.