INDONESIA TO REPATRIATE 482 OVERSTAYERS FROM SAUDI ARABIA

Jakarta, Jan 15 (Antara) - The government will repatriate 482 nationals overstaying their permit in Saudi Arabia, on January 19, in accordance with President Joko Widodo's announcement on December 2014 to bring back 1.8 million Indonesian migrant workers. Director of Citizen Protection and Law Assistance Ministry of Foreign Affairs Muhammad Iqbal stated during a press briefing here on Thursday that the repatriation was aimed to save vulnerable citizens, including sick people, women, and children. "There are 34 infants in the group who will be repatriated," he remarked. Iqbal revealed that the 482 citizens voluntarily opted to return home. Hence, the Indonesian government is coordinating with the Saudi Arabian government to assist them in obtaining exit permits. "Their exit permits have been issued, and now, they are waiting for their repatriation at the Jeddah detention house," he noted. Last year, the Indonesian government had repatriated 20.5 thousand nationals who were deported by Saudi Arabia. "But, they (the government of Saudi Arabia) facilitated them with discounted fine and air transportation," he said. Since November 2013, Saudi Arabia had provided a total of 29 aircraft to facilitate the repatriation of the Indonesian overstayers. According to the data, from the total 1.8 million overstayers living overseas, about 70 percent were in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. Currently, 588 thousand Indonesian overstayers are stranded in Saudi Arabia, and 1.25 million people are in Malaysia. Some of them are undergoing the immigration process at the detention house, and some are employed through the non-procedural way. The repatriation of Indonesian citizens is one of the government's efforts to protect its nationals abroad, of which almost half are migrant workers. According to the annual press statement issued by Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi on January 8, safety of the Indonesian citizens was the key focus of Indonesia's diplomacy for the next five years, along with maintaining sovereignty and intensifying economic diplomacy.