October 8, 2024
JAKARTA – A total of 40 Indonesians who were recently evacuated from Lebanon arrived in Jakarta on Monday, amid an intensified offensive by Israeli forces in the middle eastern country.
The Foreign Ministry’s director for citizen protection, Judha Nugraha, said the Indonesian nationals had been brought home on two commercial flights from the Jordanian capital Amman to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.
“The first flight has arrived this morning and the other flight is scheduled to arrive at 3:40 p.m.,” Judha told The Jakarta Post on Monday afternoon.
Judha said the ministry had also helped one foreign citizen, who was married to one of the Indonesian evacuees, to immigrate to Indonesia.
The ministry was forced to evacuate the 40 Indonesians by land from the Lebanese capital Beirut because local airlines had halted flights in and out of the city.
The ministry transported the evacuees from Beirut to Damascus in Syria and on to Amman in a five-day land trip.
Read also: Dozens of Indonesians evacuated from Lebanon, but many refuse to leave
The Indonesian Embassy in Beirut has imposed the highest emergency alert status for all of Lebanon since August, expanding from just the southern part of the country in October of last year.
The heightened alert status follows Israeli military attacks on targets in the country linked to Hezbollah, escalating the conflict in the Middle East. The region has been facing a humanitarian crisis stemming from Israel’s military action in Gaza.
Since the escalation of Israeli aggression in Lebanon, the Indonesian Embassy in Beirut has evacuated 65 citizens and one foreigner from Lebanon, including those who arrived in Jakarta on Monday.
Judha of the Foreign Ministry said 116 Indonesians remained in Lebanon, most of whom were refusing to leave the war-torn country.
Indonesia has been encouraging its citizens to evacuate as soon as possible for their personal safety and has advised them not to wait “until the situation gets worse”.
Read also: Evacuate now before too late, ministry warns Indonesians in Lebanon
“I’ll tell you as it is: We have to evacuate now before the situation escalates and while we still have the chance,” Judha said over the weekend. He acknowledged, however, that the decision to evacuate was each citizen’s to make, despite the authorities’ responsibility to ensure their safety.
Last week, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he had ordered the Foreign Ministry to prioritize the safety of Indonesian citizens and immediately evacuate them from Lebanon.
Since last month, Israel has conducted massive strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon and has launched ground operations across the border, AFP reported.
The war has killed more than 1,110 people in Lebanon and forced more than 1 million to flee their homes.