On Wednesday, one day after the start of the two week-long ceasefire between the United States-Israel and Iran, Foreign Ministry’s citizen protection director Heni Hamidah told reporters Jakarta continued to closely monitor the developments in the region, while also maintaining contact with Indonesian citizens in the area.

As of Wednesday, the government has helped return home 2,285 Indonesians from the Middle East since late February, when the US-Israel started launching strikes against Iran. The figure did not include umrah (minor haj) pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

Authorities are now focusing to assist 720 Indonesians seeking repatriation across the region amid widespread flight cancellations that have made it difficult to secure flights back home.

“The stranded Indonesians have been affected by widespread flight disruptions across the Middle East, and are currently receiving assistance from the government while awaiting flights home,” Heni said at a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Read also: Govt doubles down on diplomacy as Hormuz risks persist despite ceasefire

Global air travel remained heavily disrupted more than a month after the US-Israel first strike on Iran, with millions of passengers worldwide affected following the shutdown of Gulf hubs such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates as well as Doha in Qatar.

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