Jakarta, IO – This measure was taken after the security situations in the country worsened following a civil war that broke out since Saturday (15/4).
“At 1 am local time, or 6 am WIB today, 538 Indonesian citizens have arrived safely in Port Sudan City,” said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, reported Setkab.go.id, Tuesday (25/4).
The group consisted of 273 women, 240 men and 25 children. They are Indonesian students, Indonesian migrant workers, and Indonesian Embassy staff and their families.
“This is the first batch evacuation was led directly by the Indonesian ambassador in Khartoum. The evacuation was carried out using eight buses and one van from the Indonesian Embassy,” said Retno.
They departed from Khartoum on Sunday (23/4) morning and traveled for about 830 kilometers (15 hours) to Port Sudan, through the cities of Atbara, Damir, Mismar and Sawakin and passing around 15 checkpoints. They will return to Indonesia via Jeddah by sea, Saudi Arabia.
The Indonesian government continues to maintain communication with the Sudanese authorities to ensure a safe evacuation route. The government would soon carry out the second batch evacuation and has identified around 289 Indonesian citizens who are still in Sudan. She said the evacuation was carried out in batches due to logistical constraints.
Read: Jokowi: 2023 exodus the largest ever with 203,000 vehicles making the trip per day
Retno also appealed to every Indonesian citizen who is still in Sudan to report their whereabouts to the Indonesian Embassy in Khartoum so that they could join the second batch. (un)