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Saudi Arabia hosts 560 Indonesians fleeing Sudan as repatriation preparations continue
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This handout satellite image courtesy of Maxar Technologies taken on April 18 shows a burning building at the Merowe Airport in Sudan. A weeks-long power struggle erupted into deadly violence on April 15 between the forces of two generals who seized power in a 2021 coup. (AFP/Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies)
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audi Arabia is temporarily hosting Indonesian nationals fleeing from Sudan, at 560 people as of Thursday, said Saudi ambassador Faisal Abdullah Al Amudi in Jakarta, as Indonesia prepares to airlift them back home.
Ensuring that all evacuees in Jeddah, regardless of their nationalities, have been taken care of, Abdullah said on Thursday that the Saudi government is “committed” to helping them out by issuing a special temporary visa as well as providing basic needs such as food.
“As of now, the 560 Indonesian citizens have been given [immigration] relief, facilities and basic needs,” he said. “It is part of the humanitarian efforts given by the Saudi government in responding to calls from its close allies, including Indonesia.”
These Indonesian evacuees arrived in Jeddah by sea on Wednesday morning.
Other than Indonesian citizens, thousands of other evacuees from 67 countries who fled Sudan in the recent week have also been staying in Jeddah awaiting repatriation.
It remains unclear when the first batch of repatriation flights from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia will take place.
Out of the 937 Indonesians in Sudan at the time of the conflict, 337 were still waiting in a safe zone in Port Sudan on Thursday until they could be transported to Jeddah either by sea or on military aircraft, after being evacuated from Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, the epicenter of the conflict.
