Afghanistan's Situation Is Not Conducive, Indonesian Citizens Evacuation Mission Uses Indonesian Air Force Aircraft

Some Indonesian citizens evacuated from Afghanistan. (photo: doc. between)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government has succeeded in rescuing Indonesian citizens trapped in the armed conflict in Afghanistan. The family of 26 people who were evacuated to their homeland finally arrived safely at Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Base, East Jakarta.

Of the 26 people who were evacuated, 5 of them were Filipino citizens, 2 were Afghan citizens, and a husband from an Indonesian citizen was also evacuated. The rescue mission uses an aircraft belonging to the Indonesian Air Force.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi came directly to welcome the return of the 26 people. He was accompanied by TNI Commander Marshal TNI Hadi Tjahjanto. He made sure the evacuation back home went smoothly.

"With great gratitude, thank God this morning Indonesian citizens from Afghanistan have arrived, we managed to evacuate and have just arrived safely in Jakarta. All evacuations and all members of the evacuation team will immediately undergo Prokes according to the rules for arriving from abroad ," he said during a press conference at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Saturday, August 21, at around 03.09 WIB in the morning.

He revealed, the humanitarian mission was designed with the best and extra care. This is because security developments in Afghanistan continue to deteriorate and change very quickly. Thus, rescue scenarios must also be prepared in detail and measurable.

"This evacuation plan was carefully designed and prepared for several days. Due to this caution is needed considering the very high dynamics of the field and the very fluid situation. We must take all these precautions for the safety of Indonesian citizens and other evacuations. and for the smooth running of the evacuation mission as a whole," he said.

Careful efforts and detailed scenarios of the Indonesian citizen rescue mission really took place. This can be seen from the change in plans at the beginning. Initially, the evacuation was carried out using civilian aircraft. But then it was changed again because of the changing situation in Afghanistan which inevitably had to be adjusted.

"Initially, the evacuation was planned to be carried out using civilian aircraft. But later in the middle of the road the plan had to be adjusted due to changing field conditions," he said.

He finally coordinated with the TNI Commander to prepare a new scenario in the process of evacuating Indonesian citizens who will be repatriated to their homeland. "And in accordance with the coordination with the TNI Commander, it was decided to evacuate using military aircraft. During preparations, close coordination continues to be carried out with relevant ministries and institutions (K/L)," he said.

He added that all evacuation preparation steps were reported to President Jokowi. Finally, he delivered the report in person on the morning of August 18.

"Yesterday, I also delivered a briefing in front of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, the Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, the Chief of the National Police, the Wakabin and KSP. All Indonesian citizens and foreigners immediately underwent quarantine at a hotel in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta," he said.