557 Indonesian Citizens Arrive In Saudi Arabia From Sudan, Indonesian Embassy Staff Survive For The Second Stage Evacuation Process

The arrival of Indonesian citizens from Sudan in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by using the Amana ship. (Source: Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - A total of 569 Indonesian citizens managed to arrive at Port Sudan from various regions in the country that were being hit by the armed conflict, an increase of 31 people from the original number who were successfully evacuated as many as 538 Indonesian citizens, said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Wednesday.

"Of these 569 people, 557 have continued their journey by sea to Jeddah Port (Saudi Arabia) and have arrived at Jeddah Port today at around 10:00 WIB," Foreign Minister Retno said in a press statement on Wednesday, April 26.

"Meanwhile, 12 other people, namely 10 teams from the Indonesian Embassy, remain in Port Sudan to assist in the second phase of evacuation. Plus there are two Indonesian citizens who are currently still waiting for the completion of travel documents. In addition, a team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs led by the Director of PWNI, is currently also crossing from Jeddah to Port Sudan to assist in the second phase of evacuation, and completing all matters related to evacuation," continued Foreign Minister Retno.

He further explained that the second phase of the evacuation process from Khartoum to Port Sudan by land, managed to arrive today at around 09.30 WIB. A total of 328 Indonesian citizens were successfully evacuated on this occasion, consisting of 29 women, 5 children and 294 men.

"Most of them are students. There are also PMIs with their families and a professional airlines," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Foreign Minister Retno said that the second phase of evacuation used seven buses and took the same route as the previous evacuation, namely from Khartoum City through Atbara, Sawakin until finally Port Sudan.

In addition to Indonesian citizens, the second phase of evacuation also brought seven foreigners, namely six Australians and one Sudanese.

Unfortunately, one of the buses in the evacuation this time had an accident near Atbara City. This single accident occurred because the road was badly damaged and the driver was exhausted, causing the bus to fall off the track.

"This accident caused three Indonesian citizens to be injured. They have been taken to the Port Sudan hospital by ambulance and are currently being treated and treated at the hospital. I have received reports and continue to closely monitor the handling of the three Indonesian citizens," said Foreign Minister Retno.

He added that with the second phase of evacuation, a total of 897 Indonesian citizens had been evacuated from Khartoum City, Sudan. Previously, Foreign Minister Retno said that the number of Indonesian citizens registered in the Indonesian Embassy was 1,209 Indonesian citizens.

However, after updating the data, the total number of Indonesian citizens who can be contacted and recorded is 937 people with the following details:

"Arriving in Jeddah, these Indonesian citizens will rest before being gradually repatriated to Indonesia," concluded Foreign Minister Retno.

As previously reported, a Saudi Arabian-flagged ship with the name "Amana" docked at Raja Faisal Naval Base, Jeddah before 5 am local time, as reported by Arab News April 26.

A total of 1,697 refugees from 58 countries were transported by the ship, including from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Yemen, Sudan, and Turkey.