Indonesia Is Ready to Send Aid to Morocco If Requested

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lalu Muhamad Iqbal (ANTARA/Yashinta Difa)

JAKARTA - Indonesia is ready to send aid to disaster victims in Libya and Morocco if requested by the two countries.

"If there is a request, we will definitely give it. Indonesia has a tradition of always being one of the first countries to help our brothers and sisters," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, September 14.

However, so far the Moroccan government has not opened itself to receiving foreign aid except from a few countries that have been specifically requested by the country hit by the 6.8 magnitude earthquake.

Meanwhile, the Libyan government is still officially communicating with the Indonesian Embassy in Tripoli regarding assistance for victims of the devastating floods which killed at least 6,000 victims and left thousands of people missing.

Iqbal said that so far no Indonesian citizens (WNI) have become victims of the disasters in Libya and Morocco.

However, considering that the location of the floods in eastern Libya is quite far from the capital Tripoli, the government admits that it is difficult to identify and confirm the number of victims.

Moreover, Libya is still facing political conflict with the existence of two competing governments, one in Tripoli and the other in Tobruk, which makes disaster management even more difficult.

"Because of that, we cannot be 100 percent certain (whether there are Indonesian citizens victims or not) due to political and geographical problems. This flood area is closer to Benghazi, indeed far from Tripoli," said Iqbal.

It is recorded that 282 Indonesian citizens are in Libya and around 500 Indonesian citizens are in Morocco.