700 Indonesians Evacuated From Yemen So Far: Minister

Jakarta, April 6 (Antara) -- As many as 700 Indonesians have been evacuated from Yemen since December 2014, including the 110 citizens who are expected to arrive on Monday, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi said. As scheduled, the second group of evacuees comprising 110 repatriated Indonesians boarded three commercial flights in Yemen and will arrive in Jakarta and Denpasar, Bali, via Muscat, she affirmed at a press briefing here. The minister stated that a total of 700 Indonesians have been repatriated from Yemen in several phases since December 2014. Of the total number, 332 were evacuated in December 2014, while the 148 others were repatriated between February and March 2015 after the conflict in Yemen worsened, she pointed out. "On Sunday, April 5, 110 citizens arrived in Indonesia, and another 110 are on their way today and will arrive on Monday," Marsudi noted. Moreover, despite flying 92 other Indonesians out of Yemen, they could not be transported to Indonesia. While 42 of them were in Jizan, 40 others had entered Jizan from Al Hudaydah, and 10 of them were in Djibouti. "All the 92 citizens are ready for evacuation," the minister said. On Saturday, members of the Indonesian Evacuation Task Force who departed from Jakarta on Thursday, April 2, had managed to enter Tareem city through the Yemen-Oman border. They had been coordinating with Indonesian citizens in Tareemm Al Mukalla and in other cities within the Hadhramaut region to make necessary preparations for the evacuation process. The evacuation team, dispatched by the government of Indonesia, comprises 43 personnel, including 14 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 from the air force, seven from the police, and three from the National Intelligence Agency (BIN). The team members are doing their best to find the best ways to evacuate all Indonesians out of Yemen immediately, safely, and efficiently. The operation for evacuating Indonesians from Yemen also involves five staff of the Indonesian embassies in Sana'a, Riyadh, Muscat, and Addis Ababa, and the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah.