Government To Evacuate Indonesian Citizens In Wuhan Using One Way Aircraft As Soon As Possible

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah (Diah Ayu Wardani / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government is preparing an evacuation scheme for Indonesian citizens (WNI) isolated in China to return to Indonesia. This was done after President Joko Widodo's order to evacuate yesterday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) is still designing a scheme to return Indonesian citizens from the location of the spread of the corona virus. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, said that the government has put forward an effective and efficient method.

"Evacuation using one plane, ideally, you can immediately collect and pick them up to their homeland," Teuku said at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office, Gambir, Central Jakarta, Friday, January 31.

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia has sent a team to Wuhan to coordinate the movement of Indonesian citizens to facilitate the evacuation process later.

"This team will prepare everything in the field to ensure that later when the flight can enter the Wuhan area. Thus, everything has been collected and can be returned to Indonesia," he said.

In addition, today Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to request that the Indonesian government's plan to evacuate Indonesian citizens in Hubei Province be smooth.

A total of 243 Indonesian citizens, both workers and students, are in 6 areas that are quarantined due to the transmission of the corona virus. The 6 cities are Wuhan, Xianing, Xuangxi, Jingzu, Xianyang, and Xian.

"The facilitation process continues, we want to juxtapose the two between facilitation and repatriation. The minister will report the results of today's talks with the Chinese Ambassador to the president," he said.

Previously, President Joko Widodo had instructed his staff to immediately evacuate Indonesian citizens in Hubei Province, China.

This decision was taken by the President after meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly, Minister of Health Terawan Agus Putranto, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Wishnutama, and Head of BNPB Doni Monardo in the waiting room of the Air Force Base. Halim Perdanakusuma Jakarta, Thursday (30/1/2020) afternoon.

"Earlier, the President ordered the evacuation of Indonesian citizens in Hubei Province to be carried out immediately," said Retno, Thursday, January 30.

According to Retno, the Chinese government is ready to facilitate the repatriation of Indonesian citizens from areas affected by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov), Hubei Province to Indonesia.

"The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing is already near the affected areas to help facilitate the process in the field. The Indonesian Embassy has asked Indonesian citizens in Hubei to prepare travel and other administrative documents," he continued.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs collaborates with various relevant agencies in the country, including the TNI, the Ministry of Health and Immigration in the process of repatriating Indonesian citizens.

"The main task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia is to facilitate picking up and bringing Indonesian citizens to the country. Domestically, other related agencies will facilitate according to their main duties and functions," he said.

Today, Friday, January 31, there were 9,776 cases of corona in 23 countries around the world, with the death toll reaching 213 people. This data was obtained from John Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States, which developed a portal for the latest monitoring of the spread of the corona virus. In this portal, the public can see a map of the spread of the corona virus in real time.