"We are coordinating with the United Nations (UN) and several foreign missions in Sudan," said Judha Nugraha, the ministry's Director of Protection for Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities through a short message received on Monday.
Since April 15, Sudan has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to the UN's data as per April 21, 2023, the military conflict has claimed the lives of 413 people and injured 3,551 people.
Based on data from the Indonesian Embassy in Sudan, 1,209 Indonesian nationals, mostly students, are currently living in Sudan.
In response to this conflict, the embassy's Indonesian citizen protection team had managed to evacuate 43 Indonesian nationals trapped in the battlefield to offer protection and shelter at the embassy until April 20, 2023.
Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said that the preparation to evacuate Indonesian nationals from Sudan has been coordinated with five Indonesian representatives residing in Khartoum (Sudan), Cairo (Egypt), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) as well as Riyadh and Jeddah (Saudi Arabia).
However, evacuation can only be conducted if the two conflicting parties agree to hold a humanitarian pause.
This pause can be used by other countries to rescue their citizens from Sudan or for international communities to distribute humanitarian aid to Sudan.
The United States, the United Kingdom, and Saudi Arabia have managed to evacuate their residents from Sudan, while Spain, South Korea, Kuwait, and Egypt have also coordinated to rescue their citizens from the conflict zone.
During an online media briefing on Thursday, Marsudi said she had already urged the Sudan government to protect Indonesian nationals affected by the armed conflict within the country.
Related news: Sudan violence: One Indonesian hurt, 15 evacuated to Khartoum embassy
Related news: Indonesian Embassy distributes aid to WNI affected by Sudan war
Translator: Yashinta Difa P, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Anton Santoso
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