The evacuees were greeted by Indonesian Ambassador to Tunisia Muhammad Ibnu Said and the foreign ministry`s Diplomatic Security Affairs Director Samsu Rizal, according to a press statement received in Jakarta from the Indonesian embassy in Tunis on Sunday.
Although part of the evacuees lacked complete travel documents or visa, they were all allowed to enter Tunis without any difficulty thanks to good cooperation and coordination between the Indonesian embassy and the Tunisian foreign ministry, the Tunisian border police and immigration service which gave the evacuees visa on arrival.
The 253 Indonesian evacuees were eventually taken to the Indonesian Embassy where they were given temporary accommodations, food, drinks, clothes, medical assistance and counsel.
Embassy officials also took the evacuees` personal data for documentation purposes and as part of preparations for their eventual repatriation. The group which constituted the first batch of evacuees from Libya consisted of 201 PT WIKA employees, 22 female migrant workers, 12 employees of other companies, and 18 students
Last Friday (February 25), the Indonesian embassy in Tunis also received 6 Indonesian nationals who had been working for a Malaysian construction company in Tripoli. They arrived in Tunis on a Tunis Air flight.
All the evacuees from Libya would be sent back to Indonesia in two batches. The first batch would be the 201 PT Wika employees who already had Emirate airline tickets.
The other evacuees would be repatriated after a relevant instruction was received from the Indonesian Citizens Evacuation Task Force in Jakarta. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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