A group of Indonesians repatriated from Lebanon gather on Oct. 7, 2024 after arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten. As of Oct. 10, the government has evacuated 79 citizens and one foreign national from Lebanon amid the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict. - Antara Photo via Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA (Jakarta Post/ANN): The Indonesian government has evacuated another 14 citizens from Lebanon, bringing the number of Indonesians repatriated from the war-torn country to 79.
The 10 male and four female citizens from various regions in Indonesia, including Aceh, West Sumatra, Jakarta and Bali, left Beirut on Wednesday.
“We evacuated them via air transport from Beirut to Jakarta, with transits in Jeddah [Saudi Arabia] and Dubai [the United Arab Emirates]. They arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Thursday,” Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in a statement on Friday.
The repatriates were later transported to their hometowns with the support of various state institutions, the statement said.
After the escalation in the Israeli military’s attacks on Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, the Indonesian Embassy in Beirut has evacuated 79 citizens and the foreign spouse of an Indonesian since Aug. 10, divided into six groups.
Separately, 17 Indonesians working in the country or married to a Lebanese citizen have returned on their own, either self-funded or through the support of their companies.
As of Thursday, 85 Indonesians remain in Lebanon, most of whom have local spouses and refuse to leave the Middle Eastern country.
The government has been urging its citizens to evacuate Lebanon as soon as possible for their personal safety, advising them not to wait until “the situation gets worse”.
Earlier this month, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo instructed the Foreign Ministry to prioritize citizens’ safety and evacuate them posthaste from Lebanon. The Israeli military’s air and ground offensives targeting cities in Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, have intensified in the past month.
The latest attacks in Beirut occurred on Thursday, with Israeli forces reportedly targeting Hezbollah’s security chief Wafiq Safa, AFP reported.
The attack killed 22 people while Safa survived, according to Reuters, making it the deadliest raid on the Lebanese capital in recent months.
Lebanese authorities estimate that the violence has killed hundreds of people and displaced more than 1 million, the majority since Sept. 23.
An official from the United Nations migration agency called the displacement of people in Lebanon “devastating” and warned that international support was falling short of the needs of displaced people. “Lebanon needs more support.
What has been offered so far is minimal and does not match the needs,” said Othman Belbeisi, Middle East and North Africa director at the International Organization for Migration, as quoted by AFP. - JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
