Border Gates are Not Opened, Efforts to Evacuate One Indonesian Family in Gaza Gets Delayed Again

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. (Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Infomed/Abi)

JAKARTA - Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said efforts to evacuate a family of Indonesian citizens (WNI) from the Gaza Strip were again delayed, but ensured that efforts would continue and establish direct communication with the family.

"Efforts to evacuate a family of Indonesian citizens living in South Gaza were again unsuccessful. Information was received that the door on the Gaza side was not opened so evacuation was not possible," said Foreign Minister Retno in her statement Monday, November 6.

"We also received information from the field that for the past two (2) days there had been no evacuation from Gaza to Rafah.

To ensure the condition of the Indonesian citizen's family, Foreign Minister Retno communicated directly with various parties and the family, underlining that they would continue to make efforts to evacuate.

"We will continue to try and yesterday I communicated again with various parties, to ensure that Indonesian citizens were in good condition," said Foreign Minister Retno.

"I also directly communicated with the family of Indonesian citizen Pak Hussein, to provide encouragement and convey that we are continuing to try," he said.

Previously, efforts to evacuate Hussein's family, consisting of a husband and two children with Indonesian citizen status, as well as a wife with Palestinian citizenship, from southern Gaza had not been successful. The family arrived at the Rafah border on November 2. However, they were delayed because there were several administrative problems that were being dealt with and resolved.

Foreign Minister Retno admitted that the process of evacuating Indonesian citizens trapped in the midst of Israeli aggression against Palestine was not easy. Based on previous experience, the evacuation was only successful after several attempts.

Regarding the three MER-C volunteers who were around the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza, Foreign Minister Retno said that she continued to communicate, both with the three and the MER-C office in Jakarta, to ensure their safety.