566 Indonesian overstayers in Saudi to be flown home

The National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers (BNP2TKI) said that the Board and the Foreign Ministry would repatriate 566 Indonesians who overstayed their visas and at one time took refuge under the Khandara bridge in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

BNP2TKI head Moh Jumhur Hidayat said the government would fully fund the transporting process.

“They will be flown back home using Garuda aircrafts in two batches: 306 on Monday…and 260 more to arrive on Tuesday,” he said, as quoted by Tribunnews.com.

The first group will be comprised of 241 women workers, 27 children and 38 children under five.

Jumhur, along with officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry and the Coordinating Ministry for People’s Welfare, will welcome them at the airport, he said.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said last month that his ministry had discovered 1,744 Indonesian citizens who overstayed their visas in Saudi Arabia.