Tangerang, Banten (ANTARA) - The Foreign Affairs Ministry has continued to conduct network mapping to trace and evacuate Indonesian migrant workers suspected of falling victim to human trafficking in Myanmar.

"We also always conduct network mapping through the Indonesian embassy to see which parties can provide information on the workers' location so they can be evacuated immediately," ministry official Rina Komaria said here on Friday.

She highlighted that communication efforts with local authorities have continued to be intensified to expedite the process of rescuing and repatriating Indonesian migrant workers from the country.

While there has been follow-up action from local authorities, because of the situation in Myanmar, the police cannot enter or access the province where the workers are located. The Indonesian government is also experiencing difficulty in accessing the region.

"The region where the Indonesian nationals are located is a region ruled by a rebel group that even local authorities cannot enter," she said.

Despite this, the ministry will continue to search for a solution to rescue the Indonesian nationals in Myanmar.

"Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi has intensively conducted a meeting with our ambassador in Bangkok and our embassy in Yangon to map out how to free these Indonesian nationals," she informed.

Earlier, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had ordered that 20 Indonesian nationals suspected of falling victim to human trafficking in Myanmar be evacuated immediately.

"We are trying to bring and evacuate them out. The Foreign Affairs Ministry had and is trying to carry out the evacuation," he said.

The ministry has continued to communicate with the Myanmar authorities so that the Indonesian nationals can be repatriated, the President added.

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Translator: Azmi Syamsul M. Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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