Ministry Of Foreign Affairs: Repatriation Of 239 Indonesian Citizens From Malaysian Detention A Concrete Effort For Protection

The Indonesian Consulate in Tawau distributed supplies to 239 Indonesian citizens who were deported by sea from Tawau Port in Sabah, Malaysia, to Tunon Taka Port in Nunukan, North Kalimantan, Wednesday (20/7/2022). (ANTARA/HO-KRI Tawau)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the acceleration of the repatriation of 239 Indonesian citizens who were deported from immigration detention in Tawau, Malaysia was a concrete step in efforts to protect Indonesian citizens.

"This is one of the concrete steps for the solution because we received information that the detention centers in Sabah were overcrowded, so we carried out the process of accelerating the deportation of detentions in Sabah, especially those in Tawau," said Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Entities, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Judha Nugraha was reported by ANTARA, Thursday, July 21.

This step, continued Judha, is the result of cooperation between the Indonesian Consul in Kota Kinabalu and the Indonesian Consul in Tawau with the Sabah Immigrant Director, as well as the Sovereign Migrant Workers Coalition.

The workers' coalition was the first to submit reports regarding Indonesian citizens who died in a number of detention centers in the Sabah area.

Of the 239 Indonesian citizens who were repatriated on Wednesday (20/7), 158 were men, 64 women, and 17 children. They were repatriated by sea from Tawau Port, Sabah to Tunon Taka Port in Nunukan, North Kalimantan.

Upon arrival in Nunukan, the hundreds of Indonesian citizens underwent health checks and were asked for information regarding conditions at a number of immigration depots in Sabah.

Steps to accelerate deportation, explained Judha, will also be aimed at children, the elderly, and Indonesian citizens who are sick in various detention centers in Malaysia.

"God willing, in August we will accelerate through a special plane that will be flown to Kuala Lumpur to pick up about 180 of our citizens from the detention area to be brought back to Indonesia," said Judha.