Speaking in Tangerang, Banten, the ministry's director of protection of Indonesian citizens and legal entities, Judha Nugraha, said that the Indonesian evacuees, comprising 38 adults and two children, were repatriated on two commercial flights.
He said that the evacuees arrived in Indonesia on Monday via Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, at 7:49 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. local time.
"Thank God, the 41 evacuees have arrived in Indonesia. We have gone through a complex and long process to evacuate them by land from Beirut to Damascus (Syria) before repatriating them to Indonesia via Amman (Jordan)," he said.
The official further said that his office has so far evacuated 65 Indonesian nationals from Lebanon since the Indonesian Embassy declared an emergency status in Beirut following the increasingly dire security situation due to Israeli attacks.
However, he added, 116 Indonesian nationals residing in Lebanon have chosen to stay in the Middle Eastern country despite the boiling tensions between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.
Nugraha said that the Indonesians, including students and migrant workers, are reluctant to join evacuations due to personal reasons.
However, he emphasized that the Indonesian government will continue to strive to repatriate all Indonesian citizens from Lebanon, in keeping with Law No. 37 of 1999, which mandates the state to save citizens from dangerous regions.
"Nevertheless, all persons are entitled to the right to choose to join evacuations or not. Thus, we will not compel evacuations on Indonesian nationals," Nugraha said.
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Translator: Azmi S, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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