About 7 Citizens Who Refused To Return From Wuhan And The Rejection Of The Natuna Community

Evacuate Indonesian Citizens from Wuhan (Twitter @emenkes_RI)

JAKARTA - The government has repatriated hundreds of Indonesian citizens (WNI) from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, related to the corona virus attack. However, there are seven people who cannot be returned to the country for various reasons.

Three people could not be sent home because they did not pass the scanning by the Chinese government so they were prohibited from leaving Wuhan. Meanwhile, the other four chose to stay in the city for their own reasons.

Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto said that various attempts to seduce the four people had been made. It's just that, they are determined to survive in a city that is infected with the corona virus.

"Four people said they did not want to go because they were more comfortable there. Even though we have offered everything," said Terawan, Sunday, February 2.

With this refusal, the four people also made a statement letter containing the reasons for not leaving the city of Wuhan.

The Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Judha Nugraha, said that the evacuation process of Indonesian citizens from Wuhan was voluntary or without coercion. Thus, all decisions to participate or not are fully up to the person concerned.

"This repatriation is voluntary. The decision is up to each choice," said Judha. For this reason, the government can only repatriate 238 people to the country from the initial plan of 245 people.

Sunday, February 2, hundreds of people arrived at Hang Nadiem Airport, Batam. Furthermore, they were flown to Raden Sajak Airbase in Natuna, Riau Islands to undergo a series of medicals for two weeks.

However, a number of Natuna residents refused to use the area where they lived as an observation location for the coronavirus. As a result, residents held demonstrations by means of giving speeches and burning tires.

The TNI-Polri also intervened to reduce the rejection by providing an explanation of the corona virus observation process. The Natuna community was asked not to worry because there was a guarantee that the virus would not spread and infect other people.

In addition, they were also given an explanation about the sterile isolation room and the observation location which was about 6 km from residential areas.

"The location that is used as a place of observation is a military base, and its position is also very far from residential areas, the closest is about 6 kilometers," said Harry.

Later, to suppress people's concerns, the TNI-Polri will hold security around the observation location. In addition, several personnel will continue to provide explanations to the public regarding the handling of the corona virus.

"We provide security in the area of the observation location. At the same time, we also fill the patrol activities with education to the public. So it's not just patrols, but patrols with education," said Harry.