We have yet to know their whereabouts. We hope that they stay safe and healthyMakassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA) - Five alumni of Ma'had Al Birr of Makassar-based Muhammadiyah University (Unismuh Makassar), who are currently studying at the International University of Africa in Khartoum, Sudan, are still out of contact, a university official said.
"We have yet to know their whereabouts. We hope that they stay safe and healthy," director of the Ma'had Al Birr of Unismuh Makassar, KH Lukman Abd Samad, said here Thursday.
The Indonesian students will hopefully be found promptly and evacuated to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, so they can be repatriated to Jakarta, he said, adding that they are all from eastern Indonesia.
Sudan is currently facing a civil war amid a violent power struggle between military factions in the country.
According to media reports, more than 200 people have died in the ongoing armed violence between the Sudanese army and the powerful Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.
"Most of our students (of the Ma'had Al Birr of Makassar-based Muhammadiyah University in Makassar, South Sulawesi province) come from eastern Indonesia. We are going to clarify their data to make it easy to track them," Samad said.
The Ma'had Al Birr of Muhammadiyah University has appealed to the Indonesian government to do its utmost to locate the students and repatriate them to Indonesia, he added.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi revealed that 390 Indonesian nationals who have been evacuated from Sudan to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will leave for Indonesia on Thursday.
"As per the latest information, the current plan is that we will repatriate 390 Indonesians from Jedda to Indonesia today (Thursday). I need to emphasize that this is according to plan," Marsudi said.
The minister stressed that all evacuation plans are subject to the actual condition, and any abrupt changes to conditions on the ground may prompt the authorities to adjust the plans.
"Any changes that might occur are caused by changes in the actual condition that compels us to do so," the minister stated.
The 390 Indonesians evacuated from Sudan are expected to arrive at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Banten, on Friday (April 28) morning, Marsudi informed, adding that she will be there to welcome them.
"(They) will arrive in Jakarta tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. local time aboard Garuda Indonesia flight 991. God Willing, I will be at the airport as well," she said.
She informed that the 390 evacuees are among the 557 Indonesians who were relocated from the Sudanese capital Khartoum to Port Sudan on the country's Red Sea coast in the first evacuation phase.
Marsudi said that at least 12 Indonesians are reportedly still in Khartoum, adding that most of them are embassy staff who are preparing for the second evacuation phase in which 328 Indonesians will be evacuated to safety. (INE)
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Translator: MD Fatir, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Atman Ahdiat
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