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Indonesia to evacuate more citizens from Syria
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A number of Indonesian citizens walk out of Soekarno Hatta International Airport Terminal 3 upon arrival from Syria on Dec. 12, 2024. The Foreign Ministry repatriated 37 citizens in the first phase of evacuation, and is ready for the repatriation of nearly 100 others in the near future. (Antara/Muhammad Iqbal)
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ndonesia stands ready to evacuate an additional 97 of its citizens from Damascus following the arrival of 37 returnees in Jakarta on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry has said, adding that the government continues to communicate intensively with various stakeholders as Syria faces uncertain days ahead.
The evacuation was carried out by land from Damascus to the Lebanese capital of Beirut, before continuing with a commercial flight bound for Jakarta, said the ministry’s citizen protection director Judha Nugraha in a Friday statement.
“The government has taken several protective measures, including building intensive communication with relevant institutions, finalizing contingency plans for evacuations and organizing hybrid meetings with citizens,” the statement said.
“The Foreign Ministry and the Indonesian representative in Damascus continue to collect data on Indonesians willing to be evacuated,” it continued.
On Thursday night, 35 Indonesian citizens and 2 embassy officials from Syria arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, becoming the first batch of evacuees to return home after the sudden fall of Bashar al-Assad’s leadership earlier this week.
Read also: New Syria PM calls for Syrians abroad to return
The Indonesian nationals, who were assisted by a joint team comprising the Indonesian Military (TNI), the Indonesian Intelligence Agency (BIN) and the Foreign Ministry, arrived in three separate commercial flights, and would later return to their respective hometowns in West Java, West Nusa Tenggara and Lampung.
